FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT
by Forsaken Angel BlackWing
Summary: I saw his HP drop, and, just as it hit zero, he smirked. "I'll be seeing you again very soon, Kirito-kun. I hope you can wait for me."-"Wha—"-Three seconds later, I realized exactly what he meant. Too late, I saw everything go white. Then everything, all of my memories, started to play in reverse. Time bender, rewrite of ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT. (HIATUS for National Writers' Month)
1. Fatal Error

FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter One: Fatal Error

* * *

**Beginning A/N:**

**Well, I decided to be spontaneous and random. Here's chapter one of what's going to be the rewrite of the rewrite of ESR. (For those of you who weren't reading back then, I rewrote the original ESR back in February.)**

**I couldn't get any more inspiration, so I decided to go back to the drawing board before giving up completely. This time, I'm giving a little more backstory, as well as including some more things in the beginning ****_and_**** cutting out other parts.**

**See you at the bottom A/N!**

* * *

"Kirito-kun, I must reward you for deducing my identity. I shall give you a chance."

"A chance?" I repeated.

"The chance to fight me one-on-one. Naturally, I'll deactivate my immortal status," the devil of the game explained. He continued, "Defeat me, and you beat the game, and all the players will be able to log out. How about it?"

"No, Kirito-kun!" Asuna whispered. "For now… for now, we should fall back."

Memories from the past flashed before my eyes.

One by one, I saw all the people who had died in front of me.

_Diabel, shattering in my arms._

_Ducker, dying to dozens of pickaxes swung by miner-like mobs._

_Sasamaru and Tetsuo, dying to mannequin-like golems._

_Sachi, my first love, dying to the same golems._

_Keita, committing suicide after learning of my «Beater» status._

_Corvats, perishing due to a strike from «The Gleam Eyes»._

_Godfrie, dying to Kuradeel, who, incidentally, was the next person to die, by my hands, no less._

_Yui, my beloved child, perishing to the «Cardinal System»._

I clenched my teeth in utter rage.

_I saw Asuna crying in my arms at the guild headquarters._

"Don't insult me," I whispered tonelessly.

Continuing, I said, "That's fine. Let's finish this."

"Kirito-kun!"

"Sorry, but I can't run away here" I said softly to my beloved.

"You're not going to die here, right?" Asuna fretted.

"No, I'm going to win. I'm going to win and end this game," I reassured her.

"All right. I believe in you, Kirito-kun."

I laid her hand on her stomach and got up, drawing my swords and walking towards the demon who created this world.

"Kirito! DON'T!" _Agil…_

"KIRITO!" _Klein…_

"Agil."

Agil gasped, desperately trying to figure out what I was going to say.

"Thanks for helping support the swordsman class. I know you spent nearly all the money you made on helping the players level during the middle zones."

The dark-skinned giant responded with another gasp.

"Klein."

Klein looked at me with wide eyes.

"I… really am sorry for leaving you behind that day."

"D-DAMN IT, Kirito! Don't you dare apologize! Don't you dare apologize to me right now! I won't forgive you… I won't forgive you until you buy me a meal on the other side!" Klein rambled desperately.

"You got it. In the real world."

I looked at my beloved Asuna, smiling softly, before turning around to face Kayaba Akihiko.

"Sorry, but I have a request," I told the demon standing before me.

"What is it?"

"I don't plan on losing, but if I die here… I want you to make sure that Asuna can't kill herself, just for a little while."

"Oh? Very well."

"Kirito-kun, _no_! You can't…" Asuna shouted frantically. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

Heathcliff, no, Kayaba Akihiko opened up his menu, deactivating his immortal status and lowering his HP to the same level as mine.

He drew his sword.

"KIRITO-KUN!"

I zoned out, focusing all of my attention on the demon in front of me.

_This isn't a duel. We're fighting to kill. That's right. I'm going to… KILL HIM!_

I charged.

"RAAA!"

_Clash!_

"RUEEH!" _Clash!_ "RUUREAAGH!"

He swung his sword right at my head, and I dodged just in time, allowing him to cut only a single piece of hair.

_Charge, diagonal down, down, block-_

_He was the one who designed the «Dual-Wielding» skill. He'll be able to block all the pre-programmed combos! I have to beat him with my own power, without using the Sword Skills! Faster! I HAVE TO BE FASTER!_

My swords started to give off a near-invisible glow, responding to my need and startling me.

_Diagonal up, diagonal down, diagonal down, left, slash, slash, slash slashslashslashslashslash-_

Dust swirled all around us, making it harder for each of us to see the other. Still, I kept on striking. As soon as I left a tiny opening, he took it, swinging his sword and scratching my cheek.

Rage flaring, I started to activate «The Eclipse», my strongest skill.

"RAAAAAGH!"

_SLASH, SLASH, SLASHSLASHSLASHSLASHSLASH-_

All blocked.

_DIAGONAL UP, SPIN, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DIAGONAL SPIN, LEFT-_

Blocked again.

_RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT, JAB-_

Blocked.

_JAB, JAB-_

He was toying with me, swaying his shield to deflect my strikes with ease.

_DIAGONAL DOWN, RIGHT, RIGHT DIAGONAL DOWN, DIAGONAL DOWN, UP, SPIN-_

_I'm sorry, Asuna… you have to live on!_

"UAAAAGH!" I screamed, thrusting Dark Repulser toward his shield.

The same blue energy spear shot out of it, hitting Heathcliff's shield, and…

A loud ringing could be heard throughout the entire room. My sword, my Dark Repulser, had broken at the hands of the Liberator.

My vision came back into focus just as Heathcliff raised his sword into the air, saying, "Farewell… Kirito-kun."

His sword started glowing red, signaling the activation of the «Holy Sword».

_This is it. Goodbye, everyone… goodbye, Asuna…_

Something large moved in front of me, casting a shadow over my eyes.

I looked up, and was shocked speechless by what I saw.

Asuna had overridden the paralysis, but that wasn't what I was _truly_ shocked about.

Asuna had jumped in front of me… to take the blow that surely would have ended my life.

_Asuna… NO!_

And she did. A sickening slash was heard throughout the room, and the sound was deafening.

I gasped in horror as her health bar depleted past the yellow, past the red, and finally, disappeared altogether.

As her body started to glow and flicker, I said, "No, Asuna… this can't… this can't be…"

As she shed a small pool of tears, her body continued to flicker. "Gomen ne…" she whispered.

I gasped in utter shock. I felt as if my blood had turned to ice.

"… Sayonara."

And with that, my true love shattered into hundreds of thousands of polygons, leaving behind all our happy memories together to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

I hopelessly chased after the polygons, feeling that if I grabbed them all and put them back together, she would come back to life.

"Kirito! Catch!" I heard Klein shout as he threw an item at me.

When I caught the item, I found it to be the revival item, the «Divine Stone of Returning Soul».

_Klein kept it all this time…? Wait! With this, I can revive her!_

"Player revive: Asuna!" I shouted.

The polygons slowly started to form back together, and soon her body had completely reformed, laying on the ground.

"K-Kirito-kun…?"

"You're alive… right?"

"Yeah… I'm alive."

She got up, grabbing her «Lambent Light».

"Let's beat him… together!"

It was then that I noticed the pain coming from my chest.

I opened my eyes, finding Heathcliff's sword lodged in me, slowly draining my HP.

_Was it… just a hallucination? Is Asuna… still dead?_

I looked around, finding that the boss room was devoid of her presence.

_It really was… nothing but a dream…_

Then, I when I looked up at my HP bar, I noticed something very strange.

_My HP… it's going up! But why…?_

Then it clicked.

_My «Battle Healing» skill! It's regenerating my HP faster than being stabbed is draining it!_

I slowly grabbed Heathcliff's sword, pulling it out of me. In his shocked state, he didn't even notice.

I walked back to where my sword had fallen, grabbing it as well as Asuna's «Lambent Light».

As Heathcliff started to recover from the shock, I charged at him and stabbed him with Asuna's «Lambent Light», then with the «Elucidator».

"AAAAAGH!"

I saw his HP drop, and, just as it hit zero, he smirked. "I'll be seeing you again very soon, Kirito-kun. I hope you can wait for me."

"Wha—"

Three seconds later, I realized exactly what he meant. Too late, I saw everything go white. Then everything, all of my memories, started to play in reverse. I felt myself slowly losing consciousness, succumbing to the black void that appeared just as the rewinding stopped.

* * *

When I awoke, I found myself still in the void…and realized that everything had not been a dream.

"What… happened? Did the system… shut down?"

"Yes, and it's slowly resetting, along with time itself." A female voice said from behind me. "In a few moments, you will find yourself near the start of the game, with no memories of what is transpiring here."

My eyes widened, and I said, "So let me get this straight. A mere _system meltdown_ caused _time itself_ to rewind?!"

"Yes. That is how powerful the «Cardinal System» is."

"Wait… if time is rewinding, will everyone that died come back as if they had never died?"

"Yes."

_Then that means that Asuna will still be alive!_

"Would you like to ensure your friends and loved ones' survival?"

"Of course! But… what's the catch?"

"You will be given a task. The task of destroying Kayaba Akihiko on the one-hundredth floor and ending this world. You and four others will share this task," the mysterious woman announced.

"All right… if it means I can save Asuna, then I'll do anything!"

"Good. Then I have a few… gifts… for you."

"Such as?"

"The first… you will be able to start out with the «Dual-Wielding» skill, though I recommend keeping it a secret, even from your closest friends. The second gift is two copies of a sword from a mini-boss on the ninetieth floor. You won't be able to use them until the fiftieth floor, and even then I suggest you be discreet.

"The third and final gift is the ability to use «Dual-Wielding» skills without the system assist, but only when you master it," she finished.

"So every single gift you're giving me has a catch."

"Yes. Now, it's about time for time to resume. Good luck, «First Champion»."

And with that, the woman faded into the blackness of the void.

Everything went white.

* * *

"Take care… I'll be seeing you, Klein." I said, feeling terrible for not being able to help more. I started to walk away further into the dark alleyway.

"… Kirito! You look way cooler than your avatar ever did!" he said playfully.

Obviously, he was trying to lighten my spirit, with successful results. I smiled.

"And that rugged look suits you ten times better!" I replied lightly, wondering if I would ever see him again.

I ran down the alleyway, getting halfway to the corner before turning around. Tears started to build up in my eyes when I noticed that he had disappeared, possibly forever. I ran further into the alleyway, not stopping as I reached the outside of the city and the field beyond. I noticed a «Dead Wolf Cub» in my way, so I charged up a sword skill while running towards it, determined not to let the pitiful mob get in my way.

I unleashed the sword skill, destroying the mob in one hit, not even noticing the level-up window left in my wake.

_I'm going to survive. I'm gonna win!_

Three weeks later

The «Dead Wolf» proved itself to be the most dangerous mob on floor one. When hit, it lets out a howl that spawns even more «Dead Wolves». Not to mention that they were level ten, one level lower than the boss of floor one.

_Well, let's see how well my new skill works!_

«End Revolver»

I spun around, hitting all the mobs at once with a shockwave that sent them flying back, as well as stunning them.

_Yes!_

I jumped to the one closest to me, beginning to hack it to pieces.

_Left, right, right, up—_

It exploded into hundreds of polygons, going back to the recesses of the «Cardinal System» to await its inevitable respawn.

I moved to the next, repeating the action. Then the next, and the next, and the next, until I finally reached the last «Dead Wolf».

By this point, it had recovered from the stun, so I used another sword skill to finish it off: «Locus Hexedra».

_Left, diagonal up, diagonal up, right, diagonal down, diagonal down, left—_

The skill finished off with a mini-explosion, depleting the last of the wolf's HP and shattering it into countless polygons.

I unequipped my second sword, just in case someone walked by while I inspected my winnings.

"Whew… let's see… two levels, eh? Looks like I'm level eleven now. Let's check what drops I got."

I found the drop I had been searching for in the last window I opened up, which happened to be from the first mob I defeated.

"Yes! I got the «Werewolf's Blade»! Wow… it's (Crimson) class… better watch out when I use it."

"Hey, Ki-bou!"

_I'd recognize that annoying nasal inflection anywhere._

"What do you want, Argo?"

"Well, I thought I'd check on you to see yow your hunt is coming along."

"So you just wanted to know if I had found your payment, huh? It just so happens that I found a «Dead Wolf Claw» (Epic) Class. Here, take it."

I opened up a trade menu, putting my claw into it. She quickly put the items I had been trying to get in the other side of the menu, and we both accepted the trade.

_Now I can upgrade my new sword without a hitch._

"My one question, Argo, is how the heck you got those items."

"That info is going to charge you!"

"Fine, whatever. I'm going to do some more leveling."

"Wait!"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I have some info that I think you might find intriguing. I'll tell you, free of charge!"

Sighing, I said, "Let's hear it," not even trying to hide my disinterest.

"Well, on my way to check on you, I found another solo player. She seemed almost as strong as you, and she used a rapier. She was incredibly skilled, but she overkilled every mob I saw her face. I think it might be in your best interest to go meet her."

"I might as well. Thanks for the info, Argo."

"Don't mention it! See you around!"

With that, we parted ways.

* * *

As I walked through the field from which Argo came, I began to notice sounds of fighting coming from a little further ahead.

I began to run, and when I found the source of the noise, I stopped in my tracks.

I saw a cloaked girl, fighting a «Dead Wolf Cub» with ease.

_She's leveled her «One-handed Sword» skill enough to use a rapier, and she's using it incredibly well, so she must be the girl Argo was talking about._

Near the end, I could tell she was getting exhausted. She started spamming «Linear», hitting the cub over and over. When it shattered, I walked over to her, saying, "Nice work! You showed amazing skill!"

"Thank you."

"I saw a problem near the end of the fight, though. You started spamming «Linear», and you were so fast that you didn't give the system time to react. The cub's HP dropped to zero on the second «Linear». Spamming skills like that is exhausting, and it only serves to get you killed if you're facing multiple enemies."

"So what? I killed it. Isn't that what matters?" the cloaked female said, voice devoid of emotion.

I sighed. "I disagree, but we'll save that topic for later. I know this is random, but if you don't mind my asking, what level are you?"

"Level ten."

_What the?!_

"Then you should have been able to kill that thing in a single «Linear»! Wait, I think I get it."

"Get what?"

"Do you know how to distribute your «Stat Points» correctly?"

I never expected what I heard next.

"What are «Stat Points»?"

I slouched over agitatedly.

"Okay, we need to talk. Come with me."

I grabbed her by the hand, leading her away from the field.

"What?" she squeaked.

* * *

When we got to my house, I told her, "This is a house I got as a quest reward for the hardest quest on this floor. Come in."

I opened the door and held it open for her. She walked inside, and I could tell she felt amazed by its beauty, just as I had when I got it in the beta.

The house's exterior was white, with silver trim and pillars around all sides. The inside of the house was crimson and had two spiral staircases in the middle of the room. One led to the kitchen, dining room and restroom, and the other led to a single bedroom with one bed.

"So, let's get something to eat first. I can tell you're pretty hungry," I said, a gentle smile on my face.

"Thanks."

* * *

A few minutes later, we were in the kitchen, and I began to cook a meal.

_It's a good thing I've been leveling my «Cooking Skill»._

When I finished cooking, I sat down at the table and passed her a plate.

"Eat up! It might not be that good, but it's all I could do. I haven't had much time to level my «Cooking Skill», so I…"

"It's good. Thank you."

I watched as she devoured the food I set out for her with an amused smile.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"Oh, that's right! I'm starving!" I heard my stomach growl in agreement.

She giggled, eliciting a scowl from me as I ate my food.

* * *

After I finished eating, I told her to bring up her menu.

"You see the numbers to the right of your four stats? Just to make sure you know, the four stats are STR, VIT, AGI and DEX."

"Yeah."

"Well, you see the number below them that has a plus sign to the right of it? You're level ten, so you should have thirty-six «Stat Points». You gain four every time you level up. Anyway, push the plus sign," I instructed.

"Got it."

"Okay, you should see plus signs next to the four stats. Since you're going with a rapier, which is built for speed, every time you level up, you should put two points into VIT, which increases your life and defense, one point into AGI, which increases your evasion rate and overall movement speed, and one point into DEX, which increases your accuracy. So for now, put eighteen points into VIT, nine points into AGI, and nine points into DEX."

After a few seconds of tapping on her menu, she said, "Got it."

"Okay, now hit the confirm button where the first plus button was."

She tapped her menu one more time before closing it and saying, "Thank you for your help. I have one more favor to ask of you, though."

"What is it?"

"C-could I… maybe spend the night here? I don't have enough money to rent a room at an inn for another night…"

"S-sure, but there's just one thing."

"What's that?"

"I only have one bed."

"T-that's all right… just don't _do_ anything, okay?"

I almost choked, but thankfully, I kept my composure. "You have my word."

_I was going to sleep on the floor, but if she's okay with it, then…_

With that, we headed off to bed.

* * *

When I lay down next to the cloaked girl, I fell deep in thought.

_Wow, today was one hell of a day… I found the sword I had been looking for, I met a skillful rapier-using cloaked girl who refuses to take off her cloak even when she goes to bed, I taught her how to distribute stat points, and now she's sleeping in the same bed with me. I'm not sure what to make of all this, but… I know one thing._

_Life is gonna be real interesting from now on._

And with that, I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, I think I just combined a backstory, chapter one ****_and_**** chapter two of the original story all into one super-chapter!**

**You may have noticed that I left some stuff out, like the fight with the Alpha Dire Wolf, but fear not! Kamiko will still appear! It'll just take a little longer, partly because the Dire Wolves don't exist anymore.**

**The next chapter is all about the boss fight! It'll be very similar to the one in the original ESR, but it won't have Crimson Momentum in it.**

**Anyway, did you guys like this one more, or less, than the original? If you like this one more, I'll continue it, but if you like the original more, then you're basically SOL for a while. I can't get any inspiration for it, so hopefully this will suffice for now.**

**Now, it's time for the disclaimer… blah…**

**I don't own Sword Art Online or any of its characters!**

**EDIT: I changed the double brackets to the symbols that are used in the light novels, for accuracy's sake. Also, I'm going to tell you something right now.**

**THE ORIGINAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT HAS BEEN COMPLETELY ABANDONED. I've took off with this story so well, and I still haven't come up with a way to continue with the original, so I have to tell anyone here not to read that one unless you want to be let down by the fact that it won't ever be updated again.**

**With that out of the way, I guess I'll see you later.**


	2. Beater

FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter Two: Beater

* * *

**Beginning A/N:**

**I'm writing this note before I've gotten any feedback, so hopefully I'll get some reviews to answer by the end of this chapter. I welcome questions and constructive criticism, but think twice before acting like a barbarian.**

**With that warning out of the way, let me say one more thing:**

**Have a fun read!**

* * *

_When I lay down next to the cloaked girl, I fell deep in thought._

_Wow, today was one hell of a day… I found the sword I had been looking for, I met a skillful rapier-using girl who refuses to take off her cloak even when she goes to bed, I taught her how to distribute stat points, and now she's sleeping in the same bed with me. I'm not sure what to make of all this, but… I know one thing._

_Life is gonna be real interesting from now on._

_And with that, I fell into a deep sleep._

* * *

I woke up to a pair of arms around my waist for the sixth time that week.

_Is it weird that I know what her body feels like, yet I've never even seen her face?_

I felt her body shift, and I knew she was waking up.

_Great, now I have to explain this to her. Sure, she's the one doing it, but…_

"… Kirito-kun?" my cloaked friend mumbled, finally coming to.

As soon as I told her my in-game name six days ago, she began to add the –kun every time, no matter how many times I told her she didn't have to.

_"Kirito-kun is Kirito-kun!"_

I recall her saying that on the third day, and then I just gave up.

"Aaah! I'm sorry!" my cloaked friend squeaked, unleashing me from her hold on my waist and moving back on the bed.

"What for?" I queried coyly.

"I was clinging to you…"

"Ah, don't worry. I'm used to it. In real life… never mind."

"What?"

I sighed. "In real life, my little sister used to get nightmares, so she would come to my room at night and sleep next to me."

"That's sweet of you…"

"Well, let's go to «Tolbana». They're having the meeting on how to clear the first floor boss, and I don't want to miss it," I said gently, getting up and heading for the stairs.

"Right…"

"Do you… not want to help clear the game? If you want to stay here, that's okay. I'll just go without you—"

"No, it's just… I'm a little scared… that's all."

"Don't worry. We've been leveling for a while, and I can guarantee you that you're one of the strongest players in the game," I reassured her.

"All right… let's go."

* * *

An hour later, we had arrived at «Tolbana», waiting near the point where the meeting would take place.

_I really wish I was part of the first clearing group in the beta… I could have found the boss dungeon and shared the data with everyone at the meeting._

I paused in front of a statue of «Aincrad», noting that something looked… off… about the plaque at its base.

_Why is there a tiny patch of binary code under the first word? There shouldn't be a glitch like this… this could be bad later on if the glitches get worse._

I walked past it, Asuna following closely behind.

Ever since the first night she spent at my house, she had gotten more and more attached to me. I felt horrible, knowing I would have to cut my ties eventually.

_They'll probably want to form a raid group, so I'll have her party up with someone else. Hopefully she can become less dependent on me that way._

We walked to the meeting point and saw a large group of people gathered there.

_Looks like it's about time for the meeting to start._

The meeting would take place at an ancient theater-like area, with tiered rows of stone benches in a giant semi-circle around a smaller semi-circular platform at the bottom.

A man with blue hair walked onto the platform, clapping his hands and saying, "Okay, people! Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started!"

I sat down, waiting for him to continue. My cloaked friend sat down beside me.

"So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming. Good to see you," the blue-haired man said charismatically. "My name is Diabel! And in this game…"

He pounded his right hand on his chest. "The job I rolled is knight!"

The crowd burst into laughter at his absurd statement.

One of them playfully shouted, "Dude, there's no job system in this game!"

I could barely hear Diabel over the crowd as he said, "Do you guys want to hear this or not?"

That got everyone to quiet down.

"Right. Anyway, here's the deal. Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today."

Everyone gasped in shock, starting to murmur to each other.

"First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor two! The next step is, we have to tell _everyone_ waiting in the «Town of Beginnings» that it _is_ possible to beat this game!"

He raised his right hand and clenched it, saying, "Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree, or not?"

Silence.

Then, the players started to murmur among themselves, until finally, someone started clapping… then another… then another, until everyone was clapping. I even heard someone cheer.

I just sat there, smiling at the unity of the players.

"Glad you're all with me on this," Diabel said. "Now, let's figure out how we're gonna beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six."

I instantly remembered my plan.

_I have to make her less dependent on me._

"Hey, you should probably go party with a group that can help you. I'm just one person, and I don't want to hinder your success," I said with what I hoped to be a convincing look.

"No. I'm partying with you."

"What?"

_This is _not_ going as planned!_

"You're the only person I know here," she said.

I sighed, opening up a party invite.

_She probably doesn't know how to send a party invitation._

She readily accepted, and I immediately looked to where her HP bar appeared, looking for her name.

_Asuna_

My curiosity sated, I turned my attention back to the meeting.

"All right! Looks like everyone's teamed up! Now then—"

"Hold up a sec!"

Diabel was cut off by a player who had apparently arrived late, because he was standing at the top of the giant steps.

He jumped down several steps at a time, with a series of unnecessary grunts, until he reached the platform where Diabel stood.

The player had orange-brown hair, styled in a way that made it look like a cactus. He had upper body armor that looked like scales, which seemed to be the only good equipment he had.

_He must have spent all his money on that, seeing as the rest of his equipment is more than a little subpar. Hell, even his sword is second rate. Unless it's a classed drop, I doubt it would do much damage at all._

"My name's Kibaou, got that?"

_What he lacks in power, he certainly makes up for with attitude._

"Before we take on the boss, I wanna get somethin' off my chest!" Kibaou said angrily.

_This won't end well._

"We all know about the two thousand people who died so far, yeah? Well some of you need to apologize to 'em right now!"

_Shit! Shit! Shit!_

Whispers of accusation rang throughout the area.

"Kibaou. I think I know whom you're referring to," Diabel said grimly. "You mean the ones who are ex beta-testers, right?"

"Of course I mean them!" the cactus-haired loudmouth shouted. "The day this stupid-assed game started, the beta guys just up and vanished, right? They ditched all us beginners!"

Not satisfied with that level of verbal assault, he continued. "They snagged all the good hunting spots, and the grabbed all the easy quests too! They were the only ones gettin' stronger in here. This whole time, they've ignored us like we're nothin'!"

He growled. "Hell, I bet there's some of them here! Come on out, beta-testers!"

Yet after all that ranting, he still wasn't done. "We should make 'em apologize to us. And we should make 'em give up their money _and_ the items they got!"

_Shit…!_

"They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?"

Normally, I wouldn't have even _considered_ complying to his outrageous demands, but the girl sitting next to me put that selfish part of me into question.

_She trusts me… if she finds out I'm a beta-tester, she might hate me!_

"Can I say somethin'?" a deep voice queried.

I looked to the source of the voice, finding an intimidatingly tall man that in no way looked even _remotely_ Japanese.

He got up and walked down the steps and onto the platform. He stood before Kibaou and said, "Hey. My name's Egil. Kibaou, right? I wanna make sure I'm on the same page.

"You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths, because they didn't help 'em. And you want 'em to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?"

"No. You didn't," Kibaou said haughtily, though you could easily see his fear of the dark-skinned giant.

Egil pulled a book out of his pocket, saying, "The item store hands these out for free. It's a guide book. You got one, didn't you?"

"Sure I got one!" Kibaou said indignantly. "So what about it?"

I began to connect the dots.

_From what I remember, Argo said she published a guide book and distributed copies to all the item stores. She said she published mine and Coper's section on the basics of «Sword Skills» as chapter five, if I remember correctly._

"You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta-testers."

Everyone in the area shared a gasp.

"Listen up. Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here 'cause I wanna learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I wanna find out how we're gonna beat the boss."

Kibaou gave one last indignant growl, walking back to the seats. Egil followed, sitting down next to him.

Diabel chose this moment to start speaking again. "Okay. Can we get back to the meeting? For info on the boss, it's all in here, the latest edition of the guide book you just heard about."

Yet again, the crowd gasped.

He opened the book, beginning to read its contents.

_It doesn't look like he's actually reading it. Maybe he already read it before the briefing._

"According to the book, the boss's name is «Illfang the Kobold Lord». Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions, the «Ruin Kobold Sentinels». Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a «Tulwar». He can change his patterns of attack too."

He closed the book, saying, "That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, the money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the EXP. And, whoever gets an item gets to keep it. Any objections?"

He received murmurs but no outspoken objections, if there were any objections to begin with.

"Good! We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning! Meeting adjourned, people!"

As everyone walked away, I decided to stay for a moment.

_I know I've heard that name before… Diabel… well, whatever._

And with that, I headed to the weapons district, Asuna following close behind.

* * *

That night as we got ready for bed, I found myself in a predicament.

_I can't go out leveling tonight, now that we're in a party. She'll definitely notice the EXP when she wakes up tomorrow, and at the rate I grind, it might clue her in on my beta-tester status. Oh well, I'm already at level seventeen, so I guess I should be fine._

* * *

The next morning, as we walked through the forest, I decided to go over with Asuna the role that Diabel gave our party.

"Let's go over it again, since you might not have heard what Diabel said. We're the backup, so our target's gonna be the boss's minions, the «Ruin Kobold Sentinels»."

"I know."

"I'll use a Sword Skill to knock their weapons up and out of the way. When I do, switch and jump in."

"What's a switch?"

I almost choked.

"Okay, level with me. Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?"

"Uh huh."

My pace slowed, and I found myself slouching over.

_This is gonna be a long walk…_

* * *

When we reached the door to the boss room, I looked around at all the other players.

_They all have the same determined look… but… I have a feeling. Something's wrong here… someone's gonna die._

I looked to Diabel. He caught my stare, and gave a competitive smile back.

_What the hell?_

"Listen up, everyone."

Once he had everyone's attention, he continued. "I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win!"

I heard grunts of determination coming from Kibaou and Egil.

"Come on!"

Diabel put his hand to the double doors, and they automatically opened up.

The room had next to no lighting, so we kept together and waited for something to happen.

_Three, two, one._

And just like that, the walls erupted into a rainbow of bright colors, and a giant form jumped out from the back of the room.

«Illfang the Kobold Lord».

The beast was a crimson color, with a blue diamond pattern on its abdomen. Its arms and head were disproportionately small compared to its giant belly and legs. In its right hand, it held a one-handed axe, and in its left, a buckler that was too small for it, much like its arms and head.

Its four health bars appeared, filling up one by one until showing four green bars shaped in a semi-circle around its left shoulder.

In flashes of blue light, three «Ruin Kobold Sentinels» appeared, all heavily armored and wielding pole-axes.

The Kobolds all charged, their styles looking exceedingly sloppy.

_Well, it's only the first floor._

"COMMENCE ATTACK!" Diabel shouted, pointing his sword at Illfang.

We charged.

* * *

"Squads A and C! Switch in!" I heard Diabel command.

Illfang started to attack.

"Squad B! Block!"

"Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch! Everyone else, when you regroup, fall back and flank them!"

_Wow… this guy's an amazing leader!_

"Squads D, E, and F, keep those minions off us!"

Hearing him call my squad name, I snapped into action. "Yeah, you got it!"

I knocked a sentinel's pole-axe up, shouting, "Switch!" immediately after.

"I'm on it!" Asuna replied, charging in.

_I thought she was a beginner, but she's got good skills,_ I thought as I watched her perform a «Linear»._ I can't even see the tip of her sword!_

The sentinel shattered, adding to the near-infinite amount of polygons that were floating from mobs destroyed thus far.

I smiled. "Right on!"

Another sentinel spawned to replace the old one, and I blocked its not-so-deadly attack.

I heard the boss roar, and when I looked over, I saw its health depleting into the red.

Illfang tossed aside its giant axe and not-so-giant buckler into the air, and they landed far away from the beast with two loud clangs.

"Looks like the guide book was right," I heard Kibaou say cockily.

_Don't get too cocky, Kibaou._

"Stand back! I've got it!" Diabel yelled, running through the players.

_I thought the plan was for everyone in the group to surround it!_

He looked back at me with a confident smile.

When he stopped running, he began to charge up a mid-level skill.

_That won't be powerful enough to defeat it! What the hell is he thinking?!_

Illfang grabbed the blade behind its back, pulling it out.

My blood froze in my veins

_That's not a «Tulwar»! It's a «Nodachi»! This isn't like the beta!_

"Wait, stop! It's no good! GET OUT OF THERE!" I shouted desperately, hoping he would heed my warning.

He didn't.

The boss jumped up into the air, ricocheting off of the multiple pillars throughout the room. It jumped down, hitting Diabel with a skill that cut a deep gash across his chest, then activated another skill that sent him flying into the air.

"DIABEL! NO!" Kibaou shouted, earning the attention of Illfang.

The boss jumped over to Kibaou, letting out a devastating roar.

Paying no mind, I ran over to Diabel. I laid down my sword, getting out a potion for him to drink. "What the hell were you _thinking_?"

He blocked the potion with his hand, saying weakly, "You know… you were a beta-tester too, weren't you?"

I gasped, finally remembering where I heard his name.

_The «Leader»! He was the leader of the clearing party in the beta!_

"You were after the «Last Attack Bonus». The rare item. You're just like me… a beta-tester."

He gave me a sad smile. "Please… you have to… defeat the boss… for everyone here!"

And he shattered, leaving everything… everyone… behind. I looked on in horror as the fragments of his avatar and soul disappeared forever.

_When this death game started, the only thing I thought about was how I was gonna survive. Nothing else mattered._

I briefly remembered when Klein and I parted.

_"Take care… I'll be seeing you, Klein."_

_But you weren't like that, Diabel. You never abandoned the other players. You brought them together. You led everyone, and you fought brilliantly! You tried to accomplish something I couldn't!_

I stood up, turning to face the boss with a newfound rage. I gripped my sword tighter.

I heard someone come up beside me.

"I'll go too," Asuna said flatly.

"Okay."

After a moment, we charged together, in perfect sync.

"We'll hit him just like we did the minions!" I shouted.

"You got it!"

Illfang saw us and began to charge up a skill. I charged one of my own, and they met each other in a flash of light.

"Switch!"

She began to charge up a mid-level Rapier Skill with incredible speed… but…

Illfang was faster.

Illfang recovered from the recoil, aiming a slash from its «Nodachi» down on her head.

"ASUNA!"

She paused for a spilt second, shocked that I knew her name. She realized I was trying to warn her just in time to avoid the slash, but her cloak wasn't as fortunate.

While still in the air, she charged and activated a «Linear», which sent the boss flying back.

Now that I could see her entire body, only one thing came to my mind.

_She's… beautiful._

Long, flowing chestnut hair and shining chestnut eyes, accompanied by a wonderful figure. All in all, she looked perfectly beautiful.

I snapped back to reality when I heard the low growl of Illfang. "He's coming back!"

I parried another attack from him, and Asuna hit him with another «Linear».

This time, the boss went for Asuna, so I stepped in and blocked every strike.

The boss used a «Sword Skill», and, when I parried it, I remembered that that particular skill had two hits.

_Oh no!_

The second hit got me in the chest, sending me flying into Asuna.

To my relief, my HP stopped dropping just above the halfway mark. Despite this, I still felt exhausted.

I heard Asuna gasp. When I looked up, I saw Illfang charging up a one-hit heavy-hitter skill that would end our lives. Asuna moved to block it with her rapier, though we both knew it wouldn't hold up.

Just before the skill would have hit us, a familiar dark-skinned giant appeared and delivered a powerful «Whirlwind» that sent the boss's «Nodachi» back up in a giant shockwave.

Illfang flew back, and the other players charged in.

Egil turned back to us and said, "We can hold this bastard off until your health's back up!"

"You got it!"

With that, he charged at the boss.

They kept him down for a good twenty seconds, enough for my «Battle Healing» to get my health back up to full.

Illfang knocked them back with a shockwave, jumping into the air to charge another skill.

I got up and ran towards the boss, performing a «Sonic Leap» and sending him to the ground, a few meters away from the other players.

I somersaulted onto the ground, rolling back up and running towards the boss.

"Come on, Asuna! Help me beat this sucker! One last attack!"

"You got it!"

She ran into step beside me, and we charged together, yelling our battle cries in unison.

Illfang unleashed a skill, and I blocked it while she hit it with a series of «Linears».

I used my own skill on the beast, the first hit slicing down its shoulder and through to its waist.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

I began to drag the second hit of the skill through its waist, then abdomen, then chest, and then all the way through its head.

My skill sent Illfang flying through the air, where he exploded in a blinding light.

All was quiet.

Then, the «CONGRATULATION» window appeared, as well as the victory windows of every surviving player.

The players all erupted into cheers.

When the lights faded, I saw my window say,

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You got the last attacking bonus!_

* * *

Then a sub-window popped up, telling me what I got.

* * *

_Bonus item_

_«Coat of Midnight»_

* * *

I heard Asuna and Egil walk up to me.

"Nice job."

"That was some fine swordsmanship. Congratulations, today's victory is all thanks to you."

I looked down, remembering Diabel's leadership and how it got the boss into the red.

"No—"

"Yeah! You rock, man!" one of the players interjected.

More and more players started to cheer and clap for me.

Just as I had come to accept their congratulations, someone interjected with, "STOP CHEERING!"

_Kibaou…?_

Everyone's eyes turned to the cactus-haired man.

"… Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?!"

My blood ran cold. "Let him die?" I repeated.

"That's what I said!" he affirmed. "Admit it! You knew the technique the boss was gonna use. You could've told us! Then Diabel would've stood a chance… he wouldn't have had to die!"

People started murmuring, wondering what was going on.

Then, the first accusation was made. "I know why he knew! He used to be a beta-tester! Think about it! he knew the boss's attack patterns! He _knew_, but he kept it from us!"

Kibaou sniffed.

The second accusation was made, from the same player, no less. "And, I bet he's not the only beta-tester here! Come on, show yourselves!"

People started looking around, trying to find the supposed _other_ beta-testers.

I looked at everyone, seeing how a wedge was being forced between the clearing party this early in the game.

_This is bad… a-at this rate…_

I remembered Diabel's last words.

_"For everyone here."_

I realized what I had to do. I gulped, attempting to bury my nervousness.

"Hey! Calm down!" I heard Egil say.

"Hehehe… hahaha… HAHAHAHA!" I laughed, trying my best to sound like the bad guy.

_If I take all the blame, then the other beta-testers won't have to take any._

"So you guys think I used to be a beta-tester…" I said, getting up slowly. "It's not cool to put me in the same class with _those_ newbs."

"W-what'd you say?!"

"You heard me. Most of the people who scored a slot in SAO's beta were _rookies_. They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even _you guys_ are better than they were."

I walked past Asuna and Egil, both visibly shocked.

"But me? I'm nothin' like those guys, man. During the beta, I made it to floors that were higher than _any_ of the other testers. That's a fact. I knew about the boss's attack patterns… 'cause I fought _tons_ of monsters with _way_more Sword Skills on higher floors!

"I know a bunch of other things, too. More than you can imagine. More than _any_ info broker."

Kibaou was the first to recover from his shock. "Wha… what the hell?! If that's true, then you're _worse_ than a beta-tester! You're a God-damn cheater, that's what you are!"

The other people started rallying behind him, calling me names and saying things I'd rather not repeat.

"He's a beta-tester _and _a cheater! He's a «Beater»!"

"A «Beater»… yeah, that's good. I like it," I said quietly, feigning a smile the whole time.

The entire crowd gasped.

"Okay, you can call me a «Beater», 'cause I'll be the one to _beat_ this game. Just make sure you don't confuse me with those lowly beta-testers anymore."

I opened my menu and equipped my new «Coat of Midnight».

I stifled a chuckle and turned around, walking towards the stairs. When I was halfway up, I heard someone rush over to me.

"Wait!"

I turned my head around so I could see Asuna out of the corner of my eye. "What is it?"

"I… I want to continue partying with you!"

"No… I don't want you getting involved with someone like me. Besides… you can become powerful here on your own…

"However, if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down. 'Cause there are limits to what a solo player can do."

"But… what about you…?"

I could hear her voice trembling ever-so-slightly. I didn't look back, for fear I'd see her crying.

I opened up my main menu, went into «Party», and selected to dissolve it. When it asked for confirmation… I hit yes.

I put my hand on the door and it opened. I walked through it, constantly telling myself that this was the right thing to do.

I found myself on a different part of «Aincrad»… floor two. The mountainous terrain did little to intimidate me as I walked forward, determined to beat the game above all else.

_"Okay, you can call me a «Beater», 'cause I'll be the one to _beat_ this game."_

_Well… we'll find out._

* * *

**A/N:**

**This was awesome. This was so ****_easy_****, but then again, this chapter was pretty much episode 2 of the dubbed anime, but whatever. The first chapter was even easier than this one, and most of that was original, so… I'm rambling.**

**Which reminds me—I'm proud to announce that after this chapter, there won't be any more episode copying!**

**Anyway, I'm about done for now. It's one o'clock a.m. my time, so I don't want to push my luck in writing, even though it's only the A/N.**

**With all that info for you, I have only one last thing to say…**

**I don't own Sword Art Online, its characters, or anything else I borrow from it!**

**See ya!**


	3. Old Friends

FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter Three: Old Friends

* * *

**A/N:**

**I know I pissed off some of you when I pulled the "Evil Kirito" thing again, but I was trying to follow the anime for the first two chapters… and that's what happened. From now on, though, I'm gonna have more originality in this story!**

**Oh, and just to let you know, I'm planning on having a maximum of two chapters per floor, and then I move on. On rare occasions, I might have a third chapter specifically for a boss fight, but only if that fight is gonna be a hectic one. That said, I plan on going through almost every floor in the game.**

**All right, I think that's about it! Have a good read!**

* * *

_I found myself on a different part of «Aincrad»… floor two. The mountainous terrain did little to intimidate me as I walked forward, determined to beat the game above all else._

**_"Okay, you can call me a «Beater», 'cause I'll be the one to beat this game."_**

**_Well… we'll find out._**

* * *

(One week later)

As I walked through the cave that led toward the next city of the second floor, I noted the distinct lack of mobs in that particular area… an area that used to be full of them in the beta.

_Wow, things really have changed… I remember that this used to be a good leveling spot._

Seeing a light near the end of my field of vision, I began to run toward it.

_Yes! I'm almost there! Wait a second… at the end of this cave, there's a—_

Just before I got to the exit, a giant scorpion covered in red crystals dropped down from the ceiling. Two health bars appeared, with a name appearing right above them.

«NM: The Crystallize Claw»

_Shit!_

Just as I went into my menu to equip my second sword, I heard a masculine voice call out to me.

"KIRITO!"

_What the?! I thought I was the only one who got to this cave so far!_

Stopping when he was beside me, the teenager said, "It's been like, a week, and you've already gotten this far? Well, this isn't the time. You ready to take on this giant bug?"

I turned to look at the player, finding Coper, the beta-tester I had saved on the first floor before I met Asuna.

I closed out of my menu, saying, "Thanks. Let's go!"

"All right, since you probably have the highest attack stat here, I'll distract it while you chain your skills from behind! Let's see if we can get this thing into «Risk Break»!"

"Yeah, you got it!"

Coper ran up first, hitting the giant scorpion's right claw with his own «Anneal Blade». As it countered, I ran behind it from the other side.

_I wonder if this mini-boss can get the «Dismembered Limb» status… well, only one way to find out!_

I dashed past the mini-boss, turning around and activating a new skill I mastered.

«Lightning Streak»

The skill propelled me towards my foe, and just before I reached it, I jumped in the air, coming down in a vertical spin-slash on its tail.

The tail came off, hitting the ground and shattering into polygons.

"Coper! I think you can do that with its legs, too!"

"All right! I'll keep it occupied while you take out its legs!"

"Got it!"

As Coper tried to regain its attention, I backed off, waiting for the right time to jump back in. When Coper had its complete attention, he maneuvered so that I was facing the mini-boss's left side.

_Now!_

Running at the oversized scorpion, I unleashed a low-level dash-type skill.

«Rage Spike»

The skill propelled me towards the beast, my feet mere centimeters above the ground. I stopped myself right before I hit it, instead choosing to jump and slash its middle-left leg off with a «Vertical 360».

«The Crystallize Claw» cried out in pain, turning to face me. However, its attention was quickly drawn back to Coper again when he attacked it from behind, hitting the spot where its tail used to be.

I used this chance to slash its back-left leg off, afterwards sliding under its underbelly and dismembering yet another leg.

At this point, it didn't have enough support to keep itself standing, so it fell down, making a huge tremor that shook both me and Coper backwards.

"All right, we just have to spam our skills on this thing! Aim for the head!" Coper shouted, running at it.

_Wait a second… «The Crystallize Claw» can—_

"COPER, GET BACK!"

I ran towards him, seeing the beast regenerate his limbs almost as fast as I was moving. When I was halfway to Coper, the beast had regenerated all of its limbs, including its tail, and began charging at Coper.

Coper had frozen, completely immobilized by shock and fear.

"LIKE HELL!" I screamed, activating «Sonic Leap».

Coper regained mobility just in time, moving out of my path and allowing my skill to make contact with the mini-boss's head. I dislodged my «Anneal Blade» from its head and jumped back just in time to avoid a claw strike.

"Thanks, man!"

"No problem! I'll take it from here!"

"Are you insane?!"

"Maybe."

With that, I charged back in.

_CLASH!_

My sword made contact with its right claw. Its other claw hit me in the stomach, sending me back a few meters. I ran back in, my sword starting to glow red at the activation of a skill.

«Star Squint Prominence»

_Diagonal up, right, diagonal down, right, up, JAB!_

I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid another claw strike, flying back in with another «Rage Spike», followed by an upward «Vertical» to its head.

I backed off, noting that its first HP bar was fully depleted, and that the second one was halfway gone.

_Yes! I'm almost done!_

I charged back in with a «Rage Spike», following up with a series of overwhelming attacks.

_Left, diagonal up, down, up, spin, diagonal down, up—_

I performed a «Vertical 360» on its right claw, sending me up into the air and onto its back, where I stabbed my sword through its head. I used my sword as a handle to swing under the mini-boss, immediately dislodging it and running it through its underbelly until I reached the center. I retracted my «Anneal Blade» from its underbelly, putting it over my back and preparing to activate a «Sonic Leap».

I eyed the oversized scorpion's last health bar, noting that it had almost depleted.

_This is it!_

«Sonic Leap»

"RAAAAAAAGH!"

I aimed the skill for the ceiling, and when it activated, I pierced straight through «The Crystallize Claw's» underbelly, going all the way out the other side. I found myself about to hit the ceiling, so I kicked off of it, executing one last skill.

«Lightning Fall»

The skill connected with the mini-boss's head, sending blue sparks throughout the room. After a few seconds of pause…

«The Crystallize Claw» shattered into hundreds of thousands of polygons. I fell to the floor, completely exhausted.

Coper walked up to me, tossing a potion into my hands. "That was awesome, man! You're stronger than you were at this point in the beta by far! What level _are_ you?"

I hesitated for a second before giving in. "Level twenty-two."

"Whoa, man! I'm only level nineteen! You're crazy!" he shouted enthusiastically. "By the way, your little plan worked. People don't hate the testers anymore."

I looked up in shock. "Really?"

"Yup! They just hate you!"

I looked to the ground. "That's… that's all right. As long as you, Argo and my other friends from the beta don't get a bad rep, I'm okay with taking all the hate.

"Oh, crap! That reminds me, I gotta go meet up with Argo!" I shouted, remembering why I came to the cave in the first place.

"What's the rush? Is she on the other side of the floor or something?"

"No, but I'm supposed to be there in fifteen minutes. How high is your «Sprinting Skill»?"

"Pretty high, why?"

"I think you might find what I'm about to get pretty useful."

Ten minutes later, we found ourselves at a small hut in the mountains, next to a giant rock. I saw Argo on the front step, waiting for me. When she noticed me, she waved.

Coper and I walked up to her, and I said, "So, what's this about an «Extra Skill»? How does that relate to your whisker marks?"

"You'll see. Go inside to find a quest. It can only be completed once, so I suggest you two both take on the quest together if you both want the reward."

I did a double take. "You're saying that there's a first-grab quest on floor two? I thought those didn't come up until the fifth floor."

"Yeah. Only two people can take this quest in a team, and both players get the reward if they complete it. There _is_ a penalty for quitting, should you happen to do so."

"What's the penalty?"

"Find out for yourself. I'll wait out here."

_Annoying._

We walked inside the hut, noticing a muscular man in martial arts clothing sitting by a fire. "Have you come to attempt to learn my technique?" the man queried in a rough voice.

_This must be the quest she was talking about. I'm guessing that his 'technique' is the «Extra Skill» she mentioned._

"Yeah. We both did," I said, motioning from me to Coper.

"All right. First, you must prove that you are worthy. The rock next to my house is nearly unbreakable. If you want to learn my technique, you will need to break that rock. Should you accept and fail, your face will be branded with the marks of shame. Do the two of you accept?"

"We accept!" Coper and I shouted in unison.

"Good luck."

* * *

When we walked back outside, I noticed Argo waiting by the giant rock. "Well, did you guys accept?"

"Yeah."

"All right then, I should tell you that «Sword Skills» have absolutely no effect on it. You have to use your own power. The other catch is that your EXP bar is frozen in place until you beat or quit the quest, so no leveling up to increase your stats. Your best shot is to have classed equipment with high boosts to STR."

"Got it," I said, going through my equipment inventory.

"Good. I'm gonna leave. I have another meeting that I have to get to. See ya!" Argo said, walking back to the cave. "Oh, and one more thing. Kamiko is looking for you."

And with that, she left us, poorly concealing a snicker.

Coper turned to me, saying, "Hey, isn't Kamiko the second strongest player from the beta? You know, the one who followed you up to the seventh floor? Hey dude, what's with the blush?"

_Kamiko is looking for me? Why? Didn't she hate me near the end of the beta?_

"Kirito! Snap out of it! We've got a quest to complete!" Coper shouted in my ear.

"Jeez, you don't have to be so loud! Anyway, you're right," I replied. "Let's do this!"

* * *

A day later, we still had yet to even make a tiny crack in the rock. We tried everything, but so far, we were completely unsuccessful.

"Maybe we… bit off… more than we could chew." Coper said, his breathing ragged.

"I doubt it. They wouldn't have made a quest that was impossible for a player to complete. On top of that, I'd say we're two of the strongest players in the game right now, so we have a better chance than anyone else. We're also a team right now, which will make it a lot easier."

"Damn, you're right! But… what do we do?"

I began to think.

_Well, the rock is in the shape of a giant sphere, so there isn't a weak point to strike at. Our normal attacks are doing next to nothing, and Argo said that it isn't affected by «Sword Skills». That isn't to say that sword skills couldn't be used to propel the player towards the rock… yeah, that's it!_

"I just got an idea, man!" I shouted enthusiastically.

"Let's hear it."

"Okay, do you have any blunt skills that have a knockback effect?"

"Y-yeah. Why?" Coper queried. Soon, realization dawned on his face. "You want me to use a skill to propel you towards the rock so that you can make a really powerful strike, right?"

"Yeah. You got anything that'll work?"

"I've been balancing out my weapon build skills, so you're in luck. I haven't leveled my «Two-handed Axe Skill» much yet, but I've got it high enough to use «Whirlwind»."

"All right, do you have a good axe?"

"Yeah. I was lucky enough to get a classed axe from a fight with a «Dead Wolf», so I should have enough firepower to send you flying at that thing!" Coper confirmed.

"Right! Let's do this!"

He went into his inventory, equipping an axe that looked to be made of bones. I looked at him, and he nodded. A hidden message passed through our eyes, telling each other what we were going to do. He began to charge up «Whirlwind».

I tensed my muscles to jump. When he released the deadly spinning attack, he turned the axe slightly so the flat of the blade came towards me instead of the edge. I jumped into the air, kicking off his axe and raising my sword above my head.

"RAAAAAAAAGH!"

Just before I collided with the rock, I swung my sword out in my place. I bounced off the giant rock along with my blade, but not before I noticed a small crack forming in it. It started to enlarge, little by little, until finally…

The rock shattered into countless polygons, just like a mob would after being defeated.

Silence.

We looked at each other, smiles growing on our faces. "WE DID IT!" we shouted in perfect sync.

"That was so awesome!" I shouted, uncharacteristically loud.

"I know, right?"

"Well, let's go collect that reward," I said, quieting down.

We looked towards the hut, each wondering what the 'technique' he possessed was.

"You have proven yourselves worthy to learn my technique!" the fighter NPC yelled as soon as we walked inside his hut.

"Thank you," Coper and I said in unison.

"Come and sit. The food is ready. After we eat, you will learn my technique."

"Right."

We sat down and began eating.

_Wow, this is good._

Once we finished eating, a window popped up, signifying the completion of the quest.

_Huh? But we haven't learned his 'technique' yet!_

"Well done. You have just eaten the food of wisdom, a sacred dish in these mountains. You now know my technique, the «Martial Arts Skill»!" the man shouted.

"Oh yeah!" Coper shouted.

I smiled a small smile, marveling at Coper's enthusiasm.

_He's so different from back on the first floor, when we tried to get the quest item for the «Anneal Blade» together…_

* * *

Walking out of the NPC's hut, we turned to each other.

"Well, I guess this is it," I said softly.

"Yeah… but cheer up, man! I'm sure we'll see each other again!" Coper exclaimed.

"Yeah… you're right," I replied, cracking a smile.

"So, where are you headed to?" he queried.

"I'm going to go find and map out the boss dungeon, then share the info with the assault team. You?"

"I'm going to go back and grind in the mountains."

I looked down. "… I see."

"Hey, let's meet up on the third floor, in the first town. All right?" Coper suggested.

"… Yeah, let's do that."

I turned around, beginning to walk away.

"Hey, Kirito."

I paused, turning around. "Yeah?"

"I… I just wanted to apologize for what I tried to do on the first floor. That was horrible of me. I originally came to meet you to apologize—"

I tried, and failed, to repress a chuckle. "Oh, that? Don't worry, man. I forgave you for that a while back. Besides, I can understand why you would do that. It's a game of life and death, and you didn't take it very well at first. Still, thanks for the apology."

"Yeah, I guess. Still, I'm glad we were able to meet again, on better terms this time. Well, I'll be seeing you!"

"Yeah, see you later."

And with that, we walked our separate ways.

I went into my menu, looking at my floor map.

_From what I remember, the boss dungeon is due west of here. So far, all they've changed is the mobs' and bosses' attack patterns and locations, so I doubt they've changed the landscape for anything on this floor._

I looked to the sky, finding that it was almost night time.

"That won't stop me…"

* * *

An hour later, after constantly using my «Sprinting Skill», I found myself staring down the ominous tower that stretched up to the next floor.

_The boss dungeon._

"Well, this is it…"

With that, I walked in the entrance, steeling myself for whatever would come my way.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, I realize that this is short compared to my usual chapters of this story, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway!**

**READ THIS AUTHORS' NOTE! IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT!**

**I want to explain about Coper and what happened, as well as why I didn't mention it in my earlier chapters.**

**Coper is an ex-beta-tester like Kirito and Argo, but he's only mentioned in the light novels, in a short story in volume eight, called, "The First Day". You can check that out on Baka-Tsuki if you want the full story, but the general idea of what happened is this:**

**WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE LIGHT NOVELS!**

**Coper meets Kirito while they're both looking for the quest item, «Little Nepent's Ovule». They decide to look for it together, and when Kirito gets it first, Coper tries to kill him and take it by hitting the fruit on one of the varieties of the «Little Nepent», which would cause mass amounts of the mob to come and attack them. Coper thought he could escape the hoard of mobs by using his «Hiding» skill, but he didn't realize that it didn't affect mobs that don't rely on sight. In the short story, Kirito survives the trap, but Coper dies.**

**In MY variation, which I kinda condensed to conserve some space, Kirito stops Coper before he activates the trap, saving them both. He then explains why that would've killed them, and gives Coper his quest item out of pity. Kirito then leaves and gets another of the quest items, and the whole thing ends.**

**SPOILERS OVER!**

**If you guys want me to make a chapter focusing on that event, I'll gladly do that for you. I just didn't want to take too long on floor one, but if you guys want to see me write that, I'll do it. I'll put a poll on my profile asking if readers want me to write that chapter. No promises as to when I'll get it out, or any chapter, for that matter. I'm just really busy… and behind… with schoolwork.**

**All right, that's about it! Now, to the disclaimer we go!**

**I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series, its anime adaptation, its video game adaptation (though I do own a copy of it), its manga adaptations, or any of the characters, weapons, and skills I borrow from them.**

**See ya!**


	4. Proposition

FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter Four: Proposition

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, some say I didn't shine my best on the last chapter, so I'm going to try harder on this one! That's really all I have to say.**

**See ya at the bottom!**

* * *

«Depth Impact»

_Down, right, double up, thrust, SPIN!_

Another mob successfully defeated. I eyed my health bar, noticing that I was just barely clinging onto the green.

_I'm on the third floor of the boss dungeon, and there are always four floors, including the one with the boss room, so I might as well map out the rest before I go back to town. People will recognize me by my coat anyway, so I don't have much reason to go back any more than necessary._

Noting the clock in the corner of my vision, I realized that I still had plenty of time to complete the «Interrupt Mission» on this level before advancing to the boss level.

_When I came up the stairs, the notice I got for the «Interrupt Mission» said I needed to defeat one mini-boss in order to get the prize. I have twenty minutes left to do so, and then if I do, I get the prize. Since it's a mini-boss, the prize will probably be a weapon. Still, I highly doubt that it'll be a one-handed sword like my «Anneal Blade». I guess I'll just have to give whatever I get to a player on my friend list who uses that kind of weapon._

While I walked through the dungeon, looking for a suspicious room, I noted a distinct increase in the number of treasure chests in the direction I was headed.

_That's a sign that I'm getting closer to the mini-boss._

I began to reminisce about my beta days.

_I always avoided the «Interrupt Missions» in the beta because of the high stakes. But now… anything that can make you stronger is worth the risk. No matter how powerful you are, you can still die if the conditions are against you. That's why… that's why I have to do this._

"Well, I think I see it," I murmured, looking at a sealed door directly in front of me.

_There's probably a switch in the next room over that unseals it._

I went over to the next room and saw a blue diamond in the center.

"There we go. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it? There's probably some sort of trap. Wait a second…"

I checked my map data, and saw that the staircase was just behind the sealed door I had found.

_If the stairs are behind the sealed door…_

"Then that means that this room is the room with the mini-boss!"

I walked in, and the door behind me immediately shut and sealed itself.

_Once I activate the switch, the mini-boss will probably appear._

I walked over to the blue crystal. When I touched it, the sides all separated, revealing a glowing white sphere in the center.

Suddenly, out of the floor came a cloaked figure without any legs, and a skeleton for a face. In its hand, it held a gigantic scythe. Three health bars appeared, and a name appeared above its head.

«SNM: Cronus the Reaper»

"Come on, gimme all you got! RAAAAAGH!"

I charged, my two swords already glowing blue with the activation of a skill.

«Shine Circular»

When I got to the beast, the low-damage fifteen-hit combo immediately kicked into action.

_Left, right, left, right, cleave, tear, double up, double down, up, up, down, down, double up—_

The last two hits of the combo, being two thrusts, made direct contact with its abdomen. Despite the minimal damage the skill caused, it still performed its intended purpose.

It inflicted level one «Blindness».

The reaper tried to swipe at me with its scythe, missing every time due to its inability to see. On one particular swing, I jumped onto the scythe, jumped off of it, and double-jabbed it in its weak spot: its eyes.

It roared in pain, thrashing around and forcing me to dislodge my swords and jump back. The tip of the scythe scratched my arm, making my HP drop by one-eighth.

_Holy crap! It's that powerful?!_

I began to activate a mid-level heavy-damage «Dual Wield» skill, my swords taking on a red hue.

«Crimson Splash»

_Jab, jab, jab, up, jab, jab, jab, double diagonal down!_

I jumped back, eyeing its first health bar.

_Only an eighth of the way down?! This thing is insane!_

I noticed that the «Blindness» condition had disappeared, being replaced with a «Bleeding» condition.

_That's right! «Crimson Splash» inflicts «Bleeding»! Every three seconds, five percent of its health drains! It lasts fifteen seconds… so I'll have a quarter of its health drained by the end!_

I jumped back to avoid another swing, this time successfully dodging the attack.

_Man, this is one of those times that I wish I had a fast player with high EVA with me! If I had someone to draw the thing's attention, I could go from behind and spam «Crimson Splash»!_

I jumped to avoid another swing, and then I noticed the tip of the scythe glowing.

_Shitshitshit!_

It swung its scythe until the tip was directly in front of it, and an aura appeared down beneath it. It was as if the next part was in slow motion.

It swung its scythe in my direction, starting a fatal spinning attack. My vision turned red, and when it came back to normal, the mini-boss was on the ground, its HP almost completely depleted.

_What the hell just happened?!_

I looked at the dungeon timer in the bottom of my vision, seeing that five minutes had passed since my vision went red.

I didn't have time to ponder that, however, as the mini-boss got up and its scythe burst into flames. It flew at me, moving twice as fast as before.

_Now that its scythe is on fire, I can't jump off of it and do an aerial attack. The fire will probably spread onto my swords if they clash, so all I can do is dodge and strike. Wait! I have «Blade Bash»! That'll stun him for a good five seconds!_

I dodged a blazing strike, sliding under it and using «Blade Bash».

I activated my best «Dual Wield» skill yet.

«Inferno Raid»

"AAAAAAAAGH!"

When the nine-hit combo finished, the mini-boss's health had completely depleted, and after a few seconds…

«Cronus the Reaper» shattered into hundreds of thousands of polygons, signifying my victory and ending the last «Interrupt Mission» for this floor's boss dungeon.

I looked at three windows side by side in front of me. The first:

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You completed the «Interrupt Mission»!_

_Prize: «Heavenly Heart»_

* * *

I looked at the weapon type, noting that it was a rapier. _I guess I'll be seeing Asuna soon._

The second:

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You defeated «Cronus the Reaper»!_

_EXP: 1000_

_Col: 1500_

_Item: «Cronus' Sword»_

* * *

The third:

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You leveled up to level twenty-four!_

* * *

"Life is coming up Kirito!"

* * *

When I went up the final staircase, I found myself staring down a long hallway, with the boss room undoubtedly at the end.

"Well, this is it…" I said, walking through the hallway.

When I reached the boss door, I checked my map data. _Yup. The entire dungeon is mapped out now._

I unequipped my second sword and got out a teleport crystal. "Teleport: «Urbus»!"

* * *

When I arrived at «Urbus» through the «Teleport Gate», I was greeted with a frightening scene.

Asuna and a player from the «Assault Team» were dueling, and Asuna was pummeling the man. Every time she was about to make a clean hit, she manipulated the blade's trajectory slightly so that it didn't hit him straight on. Instead, it would scratch him, earning him more and more pain because the pain filter had been removed when the game officially started. Every time his HP got close to the yellow, she backed off, waiting for his HP to replenish.

_Whoa, what got her so pissed off?_

I decided to walk over to the fight, saying, "Asuna! I think he's had enough! Finish it already!"

Without even looking over to me, she yelled, "Stay out of this! He insulted— wait, is that you, Kirito-kun?!"

"Yeah. After you finish this, would you mind telling me what's going on here?"

"Sure, give me a sec!"

After she successfully beat the man, we walked over to a bench and sat down.

"So, what did he do to get you so ticked? It looked like you were torturing the guy," I said, surprised at her brutality towards the man.

"He… he called you scum. You're my friend, so I felt like I should defend your honor, you know?"

"Uh, that was a little too harsh. It seemed like you were going to keep torturing him until your weapon's durability ran out."

She looked to the ground, sadness evident on her features.

Then, I remembered what I came back to the city for. "Oh, on the subject of weapons, I got something for you."

"What is it?"

"Here."

I opened up my menu, pulling up a gift window and sending her the rapier I got from the «Interrupt Mission», «Heavenly Heart».

"Wha…? Wait, this Rapier is so powerful!" she shouted after checking its stats.

"Yeah, I got it while mapping out the boss dungeon. It was the prize for beating the «Interrupt Mission» on the last level of the place."

"You mean that you mapped out the whole thing by yourself?!" Asuna shouted, drawing attention to us.

"Uh, yeah… could you be a little quieter about it?"

"Oh, right…"

"Well, on that subject, I wanted to give you that data to share with the «Assault Team». They wouldn't listen to me, and you're the second strongest player in the official game. They might listen to you."

"Oh, okay."

"I'll gift the map data to you now, and then— huh?" I began, stopping when I saw a familiar face in the crowd.

"On second thought, I'll do that later. Follow me!" I said, grabbing Asuna's hand.

"Wha—?!"

I ran through the crowd, and when I got to where the person was, she had completely disappeared. _Damn it!_

"What are you doing?!" Asuna shouted, causing me to let go of her hand in shock.

"I thought I saw someone… wait! There she is!" I shouted, pointing to a girl with long, lustrous black hair and emerald eyes.

When she saw me pointing, she began to run away. I immediately ran after her, Asuna following close behind. When I saw her turn a corner that I knew led to a dead end, I followed her around it and cornered her.

"Hah… there… you are…" I panted.

When she realized how winded I was, she tried to run past me, but I grabbed her arm just before she did.

"Nya!" she yelped, sounding very similar to a kitten.

I bit back a remark about how cute that was, saying, "Don't worry, it's me."

"K-Kiri-kun?" she guessed timidly.

"Yeah, that's me."

She immediately turned around, pulling me into a tight embrace. "Kiri-kun! You're alive! I'm so glad…" she said, her eyes getting teary.

"Hey, don't get back into mother mode on me," I said lightly, causing her to jump back in embarrassment.

"Sorry…"

I heard the sound of footsteps running in my direction.

"Kirito-kun… what… the… heck…" Asuna panted.

"Oh, Asuna. I have a friend I'd like you to meet," I said calmly. "Asuna, this is Kamiko, a friend of mine from the beta."

"Ah, I see," Asuna said, finally having regained her breath. "Well, I guess I'll leave you two be. I'm sure you have some catching up to do."

"Wait!" I said, pulling up my menu. "I still have to give you the map data."

"What map data?" Kamiko queried, a slight edge in her voice.

_Shit!_

"Oh, he mapped out the boss dungeon on his own, so he wanted to give the map data to someone whom the «Assault Team» would listen to," Asuna explained, not realizing the impact of her words.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

_Oh Kami-sama, please spare me!_

I closed my eyes in fright. I felt the back of someone's hand make contact with my face, bringing me slight pain.

"You… I can't believe you would do something so _stupid_! You knew about the «Interrupt Mission» on the last level before the boss level… if you took it…"

"I did."

"Huh?"

"I did take it. I fought «Cronus the Reaper», got a one-handed sword out of it, and beat the «Interrupt Mission» on that floor and got its prize," I said, knowing I had just dug my own grave.

I felt her hand make contact with my face a second time, and when I looked back, I saw tear-filled eyes, accompanied by an enraged expression.

"Look… I admit that it wasn't the smartest move to take on that thing by myself, but at least I survived to see you again, right?" I said, trying to remedy the situation.

"Yeah… I guess. But you'd better not do that again, or I'll do things to you that are far worse than anything a mini-boss can do!"

"Yeah… I understand," I said softly.

I felt her wrap me into a hug, and I gladly accepted the embrace. Then, I realized that we had an audience, and I said, "Hey, Asuna is watching."

"O-oh, sorry!"

"You guys seem really close. Were you… together… in the beta?" Asuna queried, sounding slightly… off.

"No, we were just really close because we knew each other outside of the game. She's a lot like a mother or sister, and an overprotective one at that," I informed her.

"Well, you wanted to give me the map data?"

"Oh, right."

I pulled up a gift window, selected my map data, and sent the first floor data to Asuna.

"Wow, you mapped out every inch! How long were you in there?" Asuna inquired, dumbfounded.

"Well, I decided to complete all the «Interrupt Missions» for the dungeon to strengthen myself for the boss fight, and some of them were hard to complete. I had to look around for some of them, which led to me mapping out the entire dungeon," I explained.

"I see."

"Hey, I have an idea!" Kamiko said.

"What is it?" I asked with mild curiosity.

"Why don't the three of us party up for the boss fight?"

"No."

"Why not? Are we not strong enough?" Asuna queried sharply.

"No, that's not it. I just don't want you guys to be hated for teaming up with me. You two are strong players, and it'd be horrible if you got shunned because you partied with the «Beater»."

"Geez, you're a moron!" Kamiko shouted.

"What?!"

"You're so concerned for others that you don't see how much they're concerned for you!"

"Whatever, I'm going. Asuna, I'll send you the rest of the map data in a PM later tonight," I said with ire.

"Wha—"

"See ya."

And with that, I jumped to the rooftops, going to the house I won as a reward from a «Chain Quest».

When I got to the door, I found someone waiting for me. _Wait, I know that shield! That's the «Midas Crest»!_

"Yo, Kirito! How've you been?"

* * *

After talking with this man, I found out that he was a friend from the beta, known as Cirdan.

"So you're saying that you came to talk strategy for the next boss fight?" I queried.

"Yup! I heard how you and that Asuna chick beat that boss like it was nothing. And I'm guessing you mapped out some, if not all, of the boss dungeon, right? Why don't you just give out the map data to the «Assault Team»? That might fix some of your credibility issues."

"But do you really think they'd listen? Their blind hatred is really something to be scared of."

"Hmm, you have a point… still, it couldn't hurt to try, right? Just give them the data and see how they react!" he tried to reassure me.

"You know what? You're right. I'll give them the map data, regardless of how they treat me afterwards."

"That's the way! Anyway, I'll get the word out that a boss meeting is about to go down, and you prepare to speak in front of a large group of people, since I know you're bad at that."

"Right. Also, it might help to use Argo's contacts as a way of getting the information out. Just don't tell them who's hosting the meeting."

"Got it," Cirdan affirmed, walking towards the door. "Oh, and Kirito?"

"Yeah?"

"Survive to the end. I have a gut feeling that you're gonna be the one to beat this game. Now, I'm gonna go contact Argo. Mata ne!"

And with that, he left my house.

* * *

The next morning, I got a PM from Cirdan telling me where to go for the boss meeting.

_The amphitheater of «Urbus», eh? What a fitting place to do this._

* * *

I met up with Cirdan at our promised spot, and we exchanged plans. After a while of talking, we decided to get the meeting under way.

With all the people gathered on the other side of the curtains, I found myself having a hard time thinking of what to say.

_Come on, just say what you were going to!_

And so, I walked towards the center of the stage, paying the gasps of surprise no mind.

"All right, I'm not gonna joke around like Diabel did, so I'll get straight to the point," I started, receiving glares for dissing Diabel.

"Yesterday, I finished mapping the boss dungeon. If you guys will PM me your names, I'll give you all a response with the map data attached."

I received gasps in response, as well as several PMs from players I assumed were at the meeting.

"All right, that's good. I still see that some people haven't sent me a PM, so I'll tell you why I'm giving you all the map data.

"Normally I would just lead you to the boss room, but the dungeon is filled with traps that reset themselves every time a player enters the room. I've marked the places I found traps in, so be sure to avoid those areas. Oh, and Kibaou?"

"What is it?" said cactus-haired man said angrily.

"Just thought I'd let you know that there's no point in arguing that I'm misleading you about the traps. You saw how powerful the last boss was. There's no way in _hell_ I would let a single player die before the boss fight even _began_."

"Whatever," Kibaou said indignantly.

"All right, I can tell you the name of the boss, but that's pretty much it. Its attack patterns are anyone's guess, seeing as «Illfang's» attack patterns had changed since the beta. But I can tell you this much.

"Usually, the attack patterns are determined by a mob's or boss's weapon. If you know the general idea of what a certain weapon has in «Sword Skills», then you can predict all the skills that a mob wielding that weapon will use. Everyone ready to hear the boss's name?"

I received curious nods throughout the room.

"All right, the boss is called «Baran the General Taurus». Like the name suggests, he's a Taurus-type boss, or a Minotaur. In the beta, he wielded a «Warhammer», so if he's still using that, then he'll be slow and super strong, and will be prone to wrecking the ground with his «Warhammer».

"Now, has everyone sent me a PM?"

I received nods throughout the room.

"All right, here goes."

I attached a copy of the map data to a PM and hit Reply All, sending them all a PM containing the map.

"Everyone got it?"

I received a nod from every person in the amphitheater in response.

"Good! We'll meet at ten in the morning tomorrow, guys! See you then!"

And with that, I walked off the stage.

When I saw Asuna and Kamiko looking at me through the crowd, I nodded my head, signaling for them to come to me.

* * *

Once we reached a diner, I found myself ordering food for all of us. When both of them refused to talk, I said, "Look guys, I'm sorry about yesterday. I… I wasn't sure what I just did would work out. I wasn't even going to do it until an old friend gave me a little push."

"Was it Cirdan?" Kamiko assumed.

"Yeah. The guy really has a way of motivating people. And you guys…"

Silence.

"If you guys still want to, I guess I could party with you for the boss fight."

Their faces immediately brightened at the prospect, and I sent them both party invites, which they readily accepted.

"All right then, who wants to go to my house after we eat?"

* * *

Back at my house, I let them use the bath, simply because they forced me to.

_I'll never understand girls and baths…_

"Hey, we're out!"

"Kay, the bedrooms are downstairs! Since there are only two beds, I'll take the couch!" I called from my comfortable spot on… the couch.

Once all the lights went off, and I knew they were asleep, I decided to head off to sleep as well.

_See you in the morning, guys._

With that thought in mind, I fell asleep.

* * *

_I widened my eyes in horror, watching her health deplete into the yellow, into the red, until finally, it disappeared altogether._

_"Gomen ne…"_

_I gasped in fright._

_"Sayonara."_

* * *

"AAAAAAH!" I screamed, bolting up off of the couch.

I panted, my heart beating furiously. I tried to remember the dream, but all I could remember was the sound of someone dying in this world.

_Calm down, it was just a dream…_

"Kiri-kun!"

"Kirito-kun!"

I heard my friends running up the stairs from their bedrooms, rushing to see if I was all right.

"Don't worry guys, I'm fine… just a nightmare, that's all."

"Oh, that's good…" they sighed in unison.

I looked at the time on the clock on the west wall. "Girls, it's nine-thirty. We'd better get going."

"Right. Let's go!" they shouted at the same time.

_Wow, these girls are in perfect sync today. That'll be good for the battle._

* * *

While we walked to the meeting place, I talked to Kamiko and Asuna about strategy.

"So, before we get there, I have a question for you, Kamiko."

"Yeah?"

"Did you already get your extra skill for your favorite build?"

"Yeah. «Shadow Play» is good to go. I've actually got a few good combinations up my sleeve for it."

"Sweet. Asuna, how far have you leveled your «Rapier Skill»?"

"Six hundred. Enough to use «Over Radiation»."

"Good. That skill is crazy strong, but slow, so I wouldn't recommend using it until I hit the boss with a «Blade Bash» to stun it."

"«Blade Bash»?"

I sighed, remembering that she was still somewhat of a newbie to this game. "It's a «Battle Skill», meaning that it has no cooldown. It only has one hit, but it does extra damage and stuns the opponent."

"Oh."

When I looked up, I noticed that we were already at the meeting place, and that all the other players were already there.

"Everybody ready?" I said with an impassive stare.

I received nods of affirmation.

"All right, remember what Diabel had you do? Team up into parties of six! It'd be best to use the parties you had last time, if only to conserve time."

Everyone began to party up, and I saw someone walk out from behind a tree towards me. Once the figure got out of the shadows, she was revealed to be Argo, clad in lightweight armor to raise her speed.

"Hey! I assume that these two are in your party, but one more couldn't hurt, could it?"

I sighed in resignation. "Fine. We'll each form two separate sub-groups. I'll team with Asuna, since we've teamed up before, and you team with Kamiko, since you're both speed-type players."

"You're forgetting someone," a masculine voice said from behind me.

"I suppose you want in, too, Cirdan?"

"Yeah. For good measure, I'll take the role of watching and directing you guys so that you aren't just swinging and hoping to hit a weak spot. I know you know how to fight that thing," Cirdan said, pointing to me. "But Kamiko didn't join the «Assault Team» in the beta until the third floor, and Asuna hadn't even heard of the boss up until yesterday."

"Right," I replied.

I sent a party invite to Cirdan and Argo, which they readily accepted.

_Well, I guess we're ready._

"All right, everyone partied up?" I asked the group.

I received nods from everyone in the «Assault Team».

"Good! Let's move out!"

* * *

When we got to the boss door, I turned to address the «Assault Team».

"All right, Asuna and I will lead the offensive forces, being squads A through D, and Kamiko and Argo, two other players in my party, will lead the defensive forces, being squads E through H. The last person in my party, Cirdan, will take on the role of director, so he'll tell you where to go and when. Everyone got it?"

Everyone gave some form of confirmation, knowing that anyone in my party had to be crazy strong, and were good leaders.

"All right, I only have one thing left to say," I started. "Everyone, do your best to survive! If you're low on health, tell someone in your party to cover for you while you heal yourself! I don't want a single person dead, got it?"

I received smiles and nods in confirmation.

"All right, let's go!"

And with that, I pushed open the door, and we all charged.

* * *

"Squads C and D! Back off and heal while squads A and B attack from the rear! Squad E! Block the boss's attacks, and squad F, you keep the boss from setting its attention on squads A and B!"

_Damn, Cirdan is even better than Diabel!_

I ran toward the boss, beckoning Asuna to follow. "Come on, team strike!"

As if she understood perfectly, she fell into step beside me, and we ran around it to prepare for a double attack. Noticing our unusual speed, the boss turned its attention to us.

_Perfect._

The boss slammed its «Warhammer» into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent us flying into the air. While I used a «Blade Bash» in midair to stun it, Asuna landed on the rod part of the boss's weapon and ran up it, jumping and delivering a series of «Linears». When we landed on the ground, I used another «Blade Bash» to stun it again while Asuna activated «Over Radiation».

_Despite it being a ten-hit combo, it has a low DPS, and yet she's dealing massive damage! She must be leveling like crazy!_

When Asuna's skill finished, we backed off to let the other teams have a chance to attack the boss. I eyed the boss's three health bars, noting our progress.

_We've just barely gone past the first bar. Good, we're beating it faster than I expected._

Unfortunately, we didn't lose the boss's attention as easily as I'd hoped, and it came charging at Asuna.

"No you don't!" I shouted, running towards it with all my speed.

I activated a «Sonic Leap», sailing towards the boss's chest and making it stumble backwards upon impact.

"Thanks," Asuna said quietly

"S'what friends are for!" I replied.

"He's coming back! Squads A and B, fall back! Squads E and F, get its attention while squads C and D flank it!"

"I'm gonna go team up with Kamiko for an attack, so you team up with Argo!" I shouted at Asuna.

"You got it!"

I ran over to Kamiko, who was in charge of the squad getting the boss's attention. "Hey! What kind of combos do you have in store that could work in a team attack?"

We locked eyes, and an unspoken message passed between us. "Got it!" I shouted, and we began to charge the boss.

I used a «Rage Spike» to shoot past the boss, then drew its attention to me with a combination of «Slants», «Horizontals» and «Verticals». While I kept its attention, Kamiko charged up for a powerful «Shadow Play» (claw and dagger) skill.

«Critical Slayer»

She flew towards the boss with her dagger pointing forward, then pierced him and slashed upwards while repeatedly jabbing it with her claws. After five jabs, she jumped up and stabbed the boss in the eye with her dagger, then dragged the dagger downwards while slashing down with her claws.

_Damn, that's amazing!_

"Kiri-kun!"

"Right!"

I sprang into action, jumping into the air and activating another skill.

«Star Squint Prominence»

_Diagonal up, right, diagonal down, right, up, JAB!_

When the skill finished, I immediately started to slash constantly with overwhelming speed, keeping its attention and giving the other squads a chance to attack from the sides and rear.

I looked at the boss's health bar for the slightest of moments, noting that its HP had drained to the final bar…

Big mistake.

As soon as I looked back to the boss, I found its «Warhammer» hitting my chest, putting me in the yellow and sending me flying backwards, right into an unsuspecting Argo.

"Watch where you're flying, Ki-Bou!"

"Shut it, it's not like I could help it!"

"Whatever."

She went to attack the boss while I healed, and as I watched her, I couldn't help but notice how different she was in battle.

_Wow, it's like she's a completely different person! She's insanely fast!_

The boss switched its attention to Cirdan, who had no idea that the boss was charging him. I thought of Diabel, the first leader of the «Assault Team» who died at the hands of the first floor boss not so long ago.

_No… NO!_

I activated a «Rage Spike», and when it failed to get close enough, I immediately started [[Skill Chain]] and activated «Sonic Leap» to hit the boss in the head, and when it made contact, it immediately turned around to face me.

I followed up with a series of «Verticals», «Slants» and «Horizontals», slowly but surely draining the boss's HP down until its last health bar reached the one quarter mark.

After activating the last skill in my chain, «Star Squint Prominence», I was struck with a ridiculously long cooldown, so I called on Asuna and Kamiko for help.

"Asuna! Kamiko! I'm under a long cooldown, so I need you two to take over!"

"Right!" they shouted in unison, charging at the beast.

As I watched the two of them battle the boss, I couldn't help but notice their teamwork.

_Wow, they work amazingly well together! Wait, the boss is in rage mode now! That means it can use—_

Once I recovered from the long cooldown, I found that the boss had blasted back everyone around it, and was preparing for an AOE skill known as «Numbing Impact».

_Shit! I have to go help them!_

I got up and began running towards the boss, already charging up my best «One-handed Sword Skill».

"NO YOU DON'T!"

Once I reached the boss, the skill immediately kicked into action, causing me to jump up into the air to hit my target head on.

"RAAAAGH!"

«Phantom Rave»

_Diagonal up, diagonal up, right, left, down, DOWN!_

Despite the fact that it only hat six hits, it inflicted massive damage _and_ gave debuffs to all of its opponents' stats. In short, it was one of the best skills in the game thus far… and anyone could get it this early. You just had to know how.

There was silence for all of five seconds, and then…

The boss shattered into hundreds of thousands of polygons, signifying our victory. A congratulations window appeared, reinforcing that fact.

I fell to the ground, gasping for virtual air.

"Wow…" one of the players whispered. "That was amazing!"

And just like that, all of the players in the room, save for Kibaou, started cheering.

A window appeared in front of me.

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You got the Last Attacking Bonus!_

* * *

The sub-window popped up, showing my bonus item.

* * *

_Bonus item_

_«Moonlit Ring»_

* * *

"As much as I hate to admit it… today's victory was all thanks to you."

_What the hell?! Did I just hear Kibaou say that?!_

"No, it was a team effort. I couldn't have done this myself… that's why all of you should be proud of yourselves. Don't rely on me. What would you guys do if I were to die in battle?"

Silence and shocked expressions filled the room.

"Despite the fact that I party up for boss fights, that doesn't change the fact that I go solo most of the time. Even so, I push myself past what even most parties would be capable of. There's a good chance I'll die in battle one day, and most likely, no one will know about it… because I go solo.

"That's why you guys shouldn't rely on a single player. I hate to pull this card, but you guys were completely reliant on Diabel for most of the last boss fight. When he died, you were all lost… until Asuna and I stepped in. And even then, when Egil led you while I was recovering, you were all dependent on him for the few minutes that he led you.

"That isn't to say that you guys aren't strong. You're all really strong and brave. You have to be, just to be here. But you guys are hindering yourselves by relying on just a few players to get your back instead of everyone here."

I smiled drily. "Well, I've said my piece. You can expect to see me at the next boss meeting, like it or not. Until then, all of you… stay alive."

I walked to the stairs leading to the next floor, almost sad to leave.

Just as she did in the last boss fight, Asuna came running up to me.

"What is it?"

She hesitated for a second before saying, "No… never mind."

"All right… I'll be seeing you. Take care, Asuna."

And with that, I walked up the stairs, opening the door and walking through.

* * *

The third floor was styled to look like an ancient European kingdom, with castles for cities and all kinds of terrain around each castle. On the southwest side of the floor, where I had walked out from the previous floor, the landscape was filled with willow trees and tall grass that flowed with the wind.

_Ah… this is the first floor I got to with the «Assault Team» in the beta. It's good to see that it hasn't changed much._

* * *

A few hours later, I found myself about to reach the main city of the third floor, when I heard rushing footsteps coming from behind me.

"Whoever's there, just know I can hear you running. If you're planning on attacking, I suggest you find another target."

"You know I don't normally fight, right?"

I turned around in shock, coming face-to-face with Argo.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice betraying no emotion.

"Finding you, obviously!"

"And why would you want to do that?"

She looked at me with a serious expression, which was quite rare for her.

"You said yourself how dangerous it is to go it alone in this game. This is the third floor, so…"

_Please don't tell me this is going where I think it's going…_

"Once we complete the quest on this floor, you, me, Kamiko, Cirdan and Asuna can form a guild! Of course we'll pick up members on the way, but still."

I heard everyone else running towards us. "Dammit Argo, why are you so fast?" Cirdan queried, out of breath.

"You know you're the only one that's tired, right, Cirdan?" Kamiko said, an amused look on her face.

"Yeah, but everyone here has a speed build besides me and Kirito, who is just unnaturally fast."

"So you all want to form a guild? This isn't just Argo's idea?"

_What the hell am I saying?! If I join a guild, it'll be almost impossible to level [[Dual Wield]] without telling them about it!_

"Well, it started out as her idea, but all of us want it," Cirdan confirmed.

"Well…" _why the hell am I even considering this?!_ "… Give me a week to think about it. I was virtually always solo in the beta, so it'll take time to get used to the idea. I'll tell you guys my decision in a week. In the meantime, you can try to complete the quest that allows guilds to be made for everyone. That all right?"

"Yeah, that's fine. We'll go activate the teleport gate while you level," Argo assured me.

"All right… take care, guys."

And with that, we parted ways.

* * *

_If I do accept, I need to level my «Dual Wield» skill as much as possible before I meet up with them again. And the best way to do that is to push past my limits, and I can map out the boss dungeon in the process._

Once I was sure nobody was around, I equipped my second sword, _«_Cronus' Sword_»_, and sprinted towards the dungeon.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Well, that was awesome to write! I always have a blast writing boss fights, and this one turned out to be the longest yet!**

**I don't really have much to say here, so I'll finish with this:**

**I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series or any of its adaptations!**

**See ya!**


	5. Answer

FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter Five: Answer

* * *

**A/N:**

**This chapter is all about Kirito leveling his «Dual Wield» while pondering whether he should join the guild.**

**This chapter will be divided into segments, each segment being one of the days before he meets up with them with his answer. That said, there will be seven segments in this one chapter.**

**That's really all you need to know. See ya at the bottom!**

* * *

_If I do accept, I need to level my «Dual Wield» skill as much as possible before I meet up with them again. And the best way to do that is to push past my limits, and I can map out the boss dungeon in the process._

_Once I was sure nobody was around, I equipped my second sword, «Cronus' Sword», and sprinted towards the dungeon._

* * *

(The first day)

«End Revolver»

_Double spin!_

Three «Silver Griffons» down, three to go.

The rest of the «Silver Griffons» were stunned, and so I rushed to the one directly in front of me, delivering a series of slashes.

_Left, left, double right, jab, up—_

The mob shattered into countless polygons that flew with the breeze from the window in the dungeon.

Then, I noticed that the other two had recovered from their stun effect. One of them came charging at me, while the other flew into the air, preparing for a dive bomb.

I ran towards the one charging at me, leaping onto it and activating a «Sonic Leap» with my right sword, sailing towards the one in the air and shattering it on contact. When I began to fall, I activated «Rage Spike» with my left sword, making me fly towards the last «Silver Griffon». When the skill made contact, the mob shattered into innumerable polygons.

_Using one-handed skills in «Dual Wield» is a really useful exploit. It levels up both at the same time._

A window popped up, telling me that I defeated the «Interrupt Mission» for the second floor of the dungeon.

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You completed the «Interrupt Mission»!_

_Prize: «Silver Wing Amulet»_

* * *

I checked my map data, noting that I had mapped out all of the rooms but one: the room right before the staircase.

"Well, let's go."

I walked to the room before the staircase, which happened to be the room right next to the one I was in.

When I got to the room, I noticed that the door looked like it would seal when I walked in.

_Brace yourself._

My suspicions were confirmed as soon as I walked in. Just after the door sealed, I noticed a gigantic treasure chest in the center of the room.

_How the hell did I not notice that thing from outside the room—_

I heard voices from what seemed to be my memories.

_"A treasure chest! All right!"_

_"W-wait!"_

_I heard the sound of alarms blaring, and a door shutting. I then heard the sound of walls sliding and mobs spawning._

When I snapped out of it, I was right in front of the chest.

_Well, there's no way to get to the next level without activating the trap, so I might as well do it._

When I opened the chest, a shockwave blasted me back, knocking me to the ground. Then, something very strange happened.

The treasure chest started to _transform_.

Out of the open chest emerged a head and shoulders, and the sides of the treasure chest separated from the rest, revealing themselves to be bound to the back of two muscular golden arms. They pivoted slightly so that a corner on each side faced downward, as if they were the points of blades.

The bottom of the chest gave way for two muscular golden legs that pushed the chest up into a standing position. The remaining parts of the original chest, other than the parts on its arms, slid backwards until they had all gathered on its back to enlarge and form into giant wings.

Two health bars appeared by its head, and above that appeared a name.

«NM: The Wealthy Demon»

I stood up, making split-second calculations.

_It's most likely made of metal, so jabbing attacks won't have much of an effect on it. A slash would dent it until it tears, but an explosion would have the most effect. My best choice is to use «Locus Hexedra» to explode a hole in it, then use «Inferno Raid» on its insides. After that, I can use «Blade Bash» to stun it and keep the hole from resealing as well as avoid «Inferno Raid's» long cooldown, then use «Inferno Raid» again, and keep looping that. If I can keep using that combo, I should be able to beat it pretty easily._

"RAAAAAGH!"

* * *

An hour later, I successfully defeated the mini-boss.

"Damn, I had no idea that thing's defense and HP were so high… still, the plan worked like a charm. It didn't land a single hit!"

When I walked up the stairs and arrived on the next level, I saw a flashing message appear before me.

* * *

_«Interrupt Mission»_

_Defeat as many mini-bosses as possible in fifty minutes_

_For every mini-boss you defeat, you get a prize_

_With each mini-boss you defeat, the next prize you get is better than the one before._

_There are five mini-bosses in total_

* * *

I smirked.

_Three…_

I tensed my muscles for a sprint.

_Two…_

I activated my «Detection Skill», hoping to find a mini-boss nearby.

_One…_

I found one about ten meters to my left.

_GO!_

And I charged, winding my way through the maze of hallways until I came to the room with the first mini-boss.

The boss was a five-meter tall dinosaur-like monster, colored emerald-green, moving on all fours with gigantic razor sharp claws. Its spiked back looked to be made out of emerald shards, and its head had large, silver horns.

«NM: The Tyrant Dragon E»

"HAAAAAAH!"

* * *

After defeating three other dragons and getting their prizes, I came across the room where the last one resided.

_With fifteen minutes to spare._

The door was sealed, but when I pushed on it, it opened automatically.

When I saw what was before me, I broke into a cold sweat, my blood turning to ice.

A red dragon that was twice, no, _three times_ the size of the «Tyrant Dragons» lay before me, taking a nap on the floor. With every exhale, fire shot out of its nostrils, burning the floor. Another difference: it had _wings_.

Its fangs looked like they could tear me in two with a single snap, and its claws were even sharper than the «Tyrant Dragons'».

It had _three_ health bars, and above them was a name that brought back _horrible_ memories.

«SNM: Gluttonous Fiend»

_This mini-boss killed me so many times in the beta, and, every time, I was killed in under five minutes! But… I have to do this! I may die here, but if I survive, then… I'll gain something no one else can gain!_

I made sure to be extra quiet while charging «Star Squint Prominence» with my right sword, and readying a «Blade Bash» with my left.

I charged at the mini-boss, staying completely silent. Once I reached it, I jumped and activated «Star Squint Prominence» on its head.

_Diagonal up, right, diagonal down, right, up, JAB!_

As it began to wake up, I hit it with the «Blade Bash» in my left sword, stunning it, and allowing me enough time to activate «Phantom Rave» with my right sword.

_Diagonal up, diagonal up, right, left, down, DOWN!_

Continuing with the chain, I performed another «Blade Bash» with my left sword to stun it again, allowing me to activate «Inferno Raid».

_Right, right, downdowndowndowndowndown, DOUBLE RIGHT!_

I chained it into an «End Revolver», sending it backwards and stunning it so I could wait for the cooldown to finish.

When the cooldown did finish, however, the dragon was already right in front of me. It slashed me in the abdomen, sending me flying into a wall. I eyed my health bar.

_Shit! That almost put me in the yellow!_

"I'm beginning to see why Kamiko didn't want me to do this…"

The dragon flapped its enormous wings and flew into the air, preparing for a dive bomb.

_Perfect._

Just before it hit me, I jumped back and used the force of its impact with the ground to fly onto its back. I slashed at the joints connecting its wings to its body, and instantly the wings fell off, shattering on contact with the ground.

_Now you won't be able to fly anymore!_

It began to thrash around, but I jabbed my left sword in its back to keep me on top of it.

Eventually, my sword came loose, and I was sent flying into a wall yet again. I kicked off of the wall, flying over the beast to initiate my new strongest «Dual Wield» Skill.

«Dance of Sura»

I repeatedly jabbed at the beast from my spot in midair, sending several bright red energy blades down on its back.

_Yes! This'll inflict level two «Bleed» on it!_

And it did. Once the skill finished, I fell onto the dragon's back and jabbed my swords in it once more. It began to thrash again, but it eventually slowed down, little by little, until it stopped moving entirely. Then…

The «Gluttonous Fiend» shattered into a legion of polygons, and I fell down to the ground. Two windows popped up in the air.

The first:

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You beat the «Gluttonous Fiend»!_

_Prize: «Claw of Dragon»_

_EXP: 1500_

_Col: 2000_

_Item: «Glutton Meat»_

* * *

The second:

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You defeated every mini-boss!_

_Bonus prize: «Dragon Fang Dagger»_

* * *

I smiled to myself.

"Looks like I'll have a few gifts for everyone when I meet them again."

I walked towards the stairs, which I had found earlier while mapping out the rest of the level.

_Well, this'll finish up mapping the dungeon… what'll I do with the next six days? I know there are quest bosses throughout this floor, but that'd be too risky. Someone could see my «Dual Wield]]. Unless…_

"I just have to find one that seals me in when I get there."

I then realized I forgot something crucial. "I need to secure the house on this floor before someone figures out how to get it!"

I ran up the final stairs, reached the boss door, unequipped my second sword, and then got out a «Teleport Crystal».

"Teleport: «Camelot»!"

* * *

«Camelot» was the castle city to the far west of the floor, allowing one to look over the edge of «Aincrad» and see the golden clouds below.

I went over to the house to the far west of «Camelot». Its yard backed up to the border of the steel castle that we were all trapped in. I knocked on the door, and when it opened, an NPC carpenter stood at the door.

"Hello, can I help you?" the NPC said curtly.

"I heard you're the best house builder around here. I'm here to request the biggest house you can build," I said with confidence.

_This NPC will build one house with a size of my choosing before moving to the mountains on floor two, where he refuses to make any more houses. I'm lucky I made it in time._

"Ah, I see. Well then, bring me these materials, and I'll get started. If you can bring them within two days, I'll make the house free of charge."

"Right," I replied, accepting the quest. He handed me a list of materials I would need to bring.

"I'll be back," I said with vigor, earning a smile from the NPC.

* * *

(The second day)

_That's what I said, but… dammit, the materials are a lot harder to find than they were in the beta! Sure, they're in the same places, but the chance of them appearing again is slim to none now! At this rate, I'll have to pay for the house!_

I sighed. _Well, I only need two more «Trento Logs», and one more «Wisdom Trento Sap», so it won't take that long._

As luck would have it, I stumbled across three «Trentos», as well as two «Wisdom Trentos» in a clearing directly in front of me.

I smirked.

_Three…_

I decided to target the «Trento» farthest from the group first.

_Two…_

I tensed my muscles for a sprint.

_One…_

I charged up a «Rage Spike».

"Now!"

I let the «Rage Spike» loose, flying towards the tree-like mob with incredible speed. When I reached it, I stopped myself and hit it with a «Blade Bash» from my left sword, already activating «Star Squint Prominence» with my right.

_Diagonal up, right, diagonal down, right, up, JAB!_

I continued with that loop until I defeated the mob, noting the item I received from defeating it.

_«Trento Log» X 1_

"All right…"

I set my sights on the second «Trento» in the area, already planning my next move.

_When it moves away from the group, I'll charge it with a «Rage Spike», then hit it with a «Locus Hexedra», and then for my final attack, I'll «Blade Bash» it._

I waited until it moved away from the group, and then charged with a «Rage Spike».

«Locus Hexedra»

_Left, diagonal up, diagonal up, right, diagonal down, diagonal down, left—_

And yet again, it finished off with an explosion, and the mob's HP went into the red.

I hit it with a «Blade Bash», fully depleting the rest of its HP. It shattered, but then I noticed that the last «Trento]], along with the two «Wisdom Trentos», were headed in my direction.

_Crap! The explosion from «Locus Hexedra» must have drawn their attention!_

Once they reached me, I immediately activated «End Revolver», blowing them back and stunning them.

Because «End Revolver» has virtually no cooldown, I was able to sprint towards the last «Trento», slashing it until it shattered.

By that time, the two «Wisdom Trentos» had recovered from being stunned, and were both charging «Numbing Impacts» with their right hands.

"No you don't!"

I activated another «End Revolver», stopping them mid-attack. I charged towards the one to my left, delivering another series of slashes.

_Right, right, diagonal down, left, spin—_

The «Wisdom Trento» shattered into thousands of polygons, allowing me to get to work on the last one.

_Spin, up, double down, uppercut, jab, jab—_

And just like that, I was left alone in the clearing, with nothing but a victory window to keep me company.

"Let's see…" I said, unequipping my second sword and checking my spoils.

"Nice! I've got all the materials!"

* * *

"Very good, very good indeed. You did it with twenty-three hours to spare!" the NPC carpenter exclaimed, laughing heartily. "Well, I'll get to work right away!"

* * *

(The third day)

I woke up in my new bed, feeling more refreshed than I had in days… until I got to thinking about the decision I had to make.

_Four days until I have to face them again, huh? What should I do…? I don't really want to join a guild… I want to stay solo. Then I won't have to worry about defending other people. But they all want me to join… and they're all good friends of mine. I can't just ignore their wishes… maybe I should look for _her_… she might know what to do._

And so, I set off to find my friend, one that wasn't from the beta.

I set off to look for Lisbeth.

* * *

Walking through the weapons district of «Camelot», I couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of people there.

_I wonder why…_

When I found the «Teleport Gate», I leaned against one of the pillars and waited… and waited… and waited.

When thirty minutes had passed, I began to worry.

_What if something happened? What if a PKer got her?_

I then heard the sound of the «Teleport Gate» activating, and I looked upward to find an out-of-breath Lisbeth.

Despite my inner self being worried sick, I queried calmly, "What happened?"

"Sorry, I overslept… I had someone take my place for the day while I met with you, but I got careless because of that. I forgot to set an alarm."

I fought the urge to facepalm, ultimately losing the battle.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Lisbeth."

"So anyway, what did you want to talk about?" Lisbeth inquired.

I looked at my feet. "I need… some advice."

"Advice?"

"Yeah. Some good friends of mine want me to join a guild when they make it, and I don't know what to say. I told them to give me a week for me to think it over, and that was three days ago."

"I see. You must be so accustomed to being solo that their proposition hit you like a train, right?"

"Yeah. To tell the truth, I don't want to do it. Even though I know that there are limits to a solo player's power, I just can't imagine partying with someone else all the time. It's good to have someone who's got your back in a bad situation, but I don't know if I could deal with it all the time. Even if I did join, I would just have that many more people to look after.

"The way I level is dangerous, and I'm not willing to put someone else in that danger, or change the way I level," I finished, sighing at the end.

"Didn't you say in the last boss fight that people shouldn't rely on only one person?"

"Huh?"

"You said that the rest of the «Assault Team» players were hindering themselves by relying almost entirely on one player. You made it sound like if you joined their guild, your friends would be relying on you all the time. If they're your friends, then I can imagine that they're all really strong. Strong enough that they shouldn't have to rely on you."

_Wow… that's true._

"You know, you're right. They're strong enough. They can handle it."

I got up, smiling down at Lisbeth. "Thanks for that. I owe you one."

"Oh, you owe me one, eh?"

_Oh, crap._

"In that case, when you join their guild, you have to convince them to let me in."

I sighed in resignation, knowing full well that she wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted. "All right, you got it."

I waved a peace sign, saying, "Well, I'd better get going. I have some leveling to do, and the place I'm going is dangerous."

"Let me come with you!"

I did a double take. "_Why_?"

"One: I want to see first-hand what makes you the strongest player in the game."

_The strongest player? When did I get that title?_

"Two: I want to test my own skills."

_Idiot._

"And three: if I'm going to be in the guild, and I _am_, then wouldn't you need to evaluate my skills?"

_Damn, she's got a point there._

I looked at her sternly. "All right, fine. Just stay close. When I tell you to, get out a teleport crystal, just in case."

"Right!"

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

As we walked through a cave on the outskirts of «Camelot», I thought about telling Lisbeth about my… secret.

_It'd be pretty useful to let her know. She_ is_ my blacksmith, after all. I doubt she would blab, so I guess once I know no one's around, I'll tell her._

Once we had gotten far enough in the cave, I turned around and spoke. "Liz. I have a secret to tell you."

"What is it?" she inquired with curious eyes.

"Before I tell you, you have to promise not to tell _anyone_, even if they try to kill you for it."

She gulped. "All right."

"All right… here goes. I have… a «Unique Skill». I don't remember how I got it, but I started the game with it. I know if I use it in front of other people, they'll get jealous, and if a GM sees it, then it's over for me. They'll delete me from the system.

"I'm telling you this because you're my exclusive smith. That way you won't get suspicious when I have you upgrade or repair two weapons in the same visit. Plus, I feel like I can trust you with my secret."

"Wow, that's… amazing!" she shouted.

"Not so loud."

"Oh, right. Anyway, you have my word. I won't tell anyone, not even the members of our future guild."

"Thanks, Liz," I said softly. "Anyway, let's keep moving. This labyrinth is crazy big, and we still have to get to my leveling spot."

"How long do you think it'll take?" she queried.

"About a day. Like I said, this labyrinth is huge, probably the biggest for the next four floors."

I heard her sigh in exasperation.

"Once night comes, we can set up a camp. I have an item called «Camping Tent» that creates a small «Safe Zone» for two days. We can set it up for the night, leave it there, and sleep in it again on our way back out."

* * *

That night, we set up the «Camping Tent». Just when I was about to fall asleep, I heard her whisper, "Kirito?"

I turned to face her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks… for trusting me. It means a lot, you know?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, g'night."

"Night."

And with that, we both fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

(The fourth day)

When we woke up, we immediately set out for my leveling spot, leaving the «Camping Tent» behind for later use.

"You know you're an idiot, right?" Lisbeth said drily.

"Why's that?"

"Because you made us get up at _six in the friggin' morning_, that's why!"

"So? I usually get up earlier than that to go level."

Lisbeth sighed in resignation, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere with that argument.

"Look on the bright side. We're almost there! Just a few more minutes and we'll be at my leveling spot."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Just as I had promised, we arrived at my leveling spot not more than five minutes later. An alcove… filled with exactly twenty «Giant Lobsters».

The «Giant Lobster» was a mid-level mob, with a bright red shell and gigantic pincers, as well as six legs muscular enough to support it while it stood up on only four. Its shell was incredibly hard to blunt-type weapons, but easy for slash-type weapons to cut through.

"Holy crap! Those things are gigantic!"

"And they yield high EXP, too. Each one deals out 250 EXP when killed, as well as an A-class ingredient called «Lobster Loin»."

"Y-you don't get it, do you?"

"Since you say it like that, then probably no. What's up?"

"I-I'm afraid of lobsters!"

"Well, then you get to watch my «Dual Wield» in action."

I equipped my second sword, «Cronus' Sword», and charged at the nearest «Giant Lobster».

_These things have the hidden skill «Swarm», so they'll all come to me when I hit this one._

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!"

* * *

Six hours later, after eighteen respawns, I had leveled up three times, putting me at level Twenty-Seven.

"All right, I'd say I'm ready to go take the final test in this dungeon," I said, temporarily sheathing my swords.

"You mean…"

"Yup. There's one more thing I have to do before leaving this dungeon."

"And that would be…"

"I have to defeat the «Dungeon Master». This one isn't that powerful, but it's still the third strongest mob on this floor."

"What are the first and second?"

"The first is obviously the boss of this floor, and the second is the last dragon mini-boss in the boss dungeon, called «Gluttonous Fiend». I beat him, but he almost killed me."

"And yet you were still going to try to beat this one on your own," Lisbeth said, her voice dripping with anger.

"Yeah, that's right."

"You're a moron."

"I get that a lot. Now, let's go."

* * *

Four hours later, we stood before a giant set of double doors.

"The doors shut behind you when you walk in. You _can_ use «Teleport Crystals», but they'll have a delayed activation period," I said. "Get yours ready."

"Got it."

"Okay… let's go."

I pushed on the door and it opened, revealing the mini-boss of the dungeon.

A giant pinkish red crab stood before us, along with three blue versions of the «Giant Lobsters» I had fought earlier. The crab was two times the size of the lobsters, standing at six meters tall, with pincers three times the size of those of the «Giant Lobsters». The name of this mini-boss?

«Cannibalistic Crustacean»

"You wanted to prove yourself? Overcome your fear and defeat the «Giant Lobsters»!"

"G-got it!"

_But does she really get it?_

"All right, I'll take the crab! Ready?"

"Y-yeah!"

"GO!"

I charged at the mini-boss, already forming a plan on how to defeat it.

_All right, I'll hit it with a «Blade Bash» to stun it, followed by a «Locus Hexedra» to blow a hole in its shell, then «Crimson Splash» to keep the hole from closing and inflict «Bleed». Then I'll use a «Blade Bash» on it to keep the hole from closing for even longer, and then a «Sonic Leap» to go straight through it. I'll finish it off with a «Dance of Sura» from the air, followed by a series of low-level skills that have low cooldowns._

"RAAAAAAGH!"

I hit it with a «Blade Bash», just like I planned, followed by…

«Locus Hexedra»

_Left, diagonal up, diagonal up, right, diagonal down, diagonal down, left—_

The explosion blew a hole in its underbelly, and I aimed a «Crimson Splash» where the hole had formed.

_Jab, jab, jab, up, jab, jab, jab, double diagonal down!_

Next, true to the plan, I used a «Sonic Leap» to go straight through the mini-boss, flying straight into the ceiling.

_Crap! Well, I guess I can improvise a little._

I kicked off the ceiling, using a «Lightning Fall» with my left sword to pierce it, as well as send it to the ground. I jumped back into the air, using «Dance of Sura» to hit it repeatedly until…

It got up, aiming a jab at me with its right pincer. I used a «Blade Bash» to hit and ricochet off of it, landing back-to-back with Lisbeth, who looked to be holding her own quite well against the last of the blue versions of the «Giant Lobsters».

Casually, I queried, "How are you doing?"

"Holding up. You?"

"Same."

I jumped back at the charging crab-like mini-boss, rushing back in with a «Blade Bash», followed by another «Locus Hexedra».

I continued with an «Inferno Raid», chaining it into another «Sonic Leap» to go through the mini-boss's underbelly again, and finally, another «Dance of Sura».

Once the skill finished, and the «Bleed» condition was inflicted, I activated another skill as I fell.

«Diagonal 720»

_Double diagonal spin!_

Its shell… cracked, revealing the soft skin beneath.

_Perfect!_

I immediately set to work, bombarding it with low-level skills. Despite their normally low damage output, they did massive damage now that the shell had been destroyed.

I looked at the «Cannibalistic Crustacean's» health bars, seeing the last one dropping at an incredibly fast rate, until…

The «Cannibalistic Crustacean» shattered into countless polygons. A window popped up, showing my spoils.

* * *

_Congratulation_

_You defeated «Cannibalistic Crustacean»!_

_EXP: 1350_

_Items: 2_

_Item names: «Cannibal Pincers», «Premium Crab Meat»_

* * *

Lisbeth, having taken care of the last «Giant Lobster» some time ago, came over to inspect my spoils.

"Wow, you're crazy strong! I didn't know you could use one-handed skills in «Dual Wield»!"

"Not so loud. There could have been someone here. Luckily, the door's still sealed… wait, the door's still sealed!"

"What?"

"Look!" I shouted, pointing towards the door that we came through.

"You're right! But how do we get out?"

"If we can get in, there must be a way out. The game wouldn't be so unfair as to prevent us from getting out after defeating something so strong."

"Wait… I think I see a tunnel opposite the door!" Lisbeth shouted, pointing to what looked to be a dark passageway.

"Well, looks like we found our way out."

When we found our way to the end of the tunnel, we saw a blinding light that could only be an exit to the outside of the cave.

"Well, it looks like I won't be getting my «Camping Tent» back…" I said, sighing sadly.

"Sorry…"

"What're _you_ apologizing for? It isn't your fault. Anyway, let's go. I just got a new house, and I don't think you would want to spend another night in the inn after what happened today."

"S-sure!"

* * *

When we got to my house, I said, "You want to use the bath first?"

"Whoa, this house is _huge_! Wait… did you say you have a _bath_?!"

"Uh, yeah."

_Just like Asuna and Kamiko._

"Well then, I'll lead you to it."

After she finished taking a bath, I told her, "Take the bedroom to the left. I'll take the right one after my bath."

"Right."

* * *

When I finally got into my bed, I began to think about the last two day's events.

_This is crazy… well, at the very least, I got my «Dual Wield» to exactly 599/1000. One more mastery level and I can learn «Starburst Stream», the third best «Dual Wield» skill… I wonder when I'll be able to get that one point. When Lisbeth joins the guild, I'll be able to level it with her… I guess that'll be good enough._

With that thought in mind, I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_A voice I didn't know called out, "Kirito!"_

_"Sachi!"_

_I heard the sound of someone getting hit by an attack, and then I heard that same voice again, though it sounded like it was coming from a «Recording Crystal»._

_"Arigatou… sayonara."_

* * *

"NO!"

I woke up screaming, starting to hyperventilate as I tried to remember my dream.

"Kirito! Are you okay?" I heard someone shout, the voice coming from the guest room.

I heard footsteps coming in my direction, and I instantly knew who it was. _Lisbeth…_

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nightmare is all. I think I'll get up."

"But it's not even twelve yet! If you're afraid of having another nightmare, I can sleep next to you. Would that help?"

_How did she know?!_ "Yeah… thanks…"

We lay down together, and I immediately felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me.

"You know… I really am thankful for all that you've done for me. You promised to keep my «Dual Wield» a secret, and you helped out big time with that mini-boss fight. Not only that, but you've been my exclusive smith, and even given me discounts because I came so often. I think… when we all get to the real world, I want to find you, and be friends there," I said softly. She continued to breathe deeply, giving no sign that she had heard me.

With that, I fell into a deep sleep, filled with happy dreams of meeting my online friends in the real world.

* * *

(The fifth day)

When I woke up, Lisbeth was still sleeping soundly next to me, her arms around my waist.

_Just like Kamiko and Asuna… does every girl do this?_

"Hey, Lisbeth… it's time to wake up…" I said softly, gently poking her shoulder.

"Nnn… Kirito?"

"Hey."

"Why am I in your bed…? Oh wait, I remember now… you had a nightmare, right?"

"And _you_ went into overprotective sister mode," I said, a sly smirk on my face.

"Hey!"

"Well you did!"

She looked away, mumbling something unintelligible as she got up.

_I wonder if she noticed the position we were in…_

"What was that?" I queried.

"Nothing," she said agitatedly. "So, what's on our agenda today?"

"_Our_?"

"Yeah. I'm staying with you until the day you tell everyone your decision, whether you like it or not."

"Well, I guess that'll give me some time to level «Dual Wield». You know I can only do that when we're alone together, right?"

"The way you just said that sounds—"

"Yeah, I realized it as soon as I said it. Anyway, we're going to be questing for the next two days, and we're gonna take ones that will keep us away from other people."

"All right. Where's the first one?"

"I think the best course of action is to get you a new mace. You're strong, but it never hurts anyone to get stronger." As we walked away, I explained my plan.

* * *

After completing the quest to get Lisbeth a new mace, we found ourselves back at my new house. She immediately ran upstairs to the bath, and I went to fix some food for us.

"Well, today sure went by fast… maybe it's because life is cursing me… so that I feel like I have to face them sooner. No, that's just stupid," I pondered out loud after a while of cooking.

"What's stupid?"

"Oh, I'm just thinking about how fast today came and went. I feel like I'm being pressured into making a decision I don't really want to make, and god is laughing while speeding up time."

"So you still have doubts, huh?"

"Yeah… I've been having dreams lately… about a guild I was going to join. Every single dream had the same guild, and we were always happy, but… the last dream I had with them in it showed them all dying. I feel like it could happen with this guild, too," I poured my insecurities out, looking down.

"You're forgetting something," Lisbeth said with a confident tone.

I looked up at her. "What's that?"

"You don't have to be protecting us all the time. We're all strong, and we can take care of ourselves. If someone needs protecting, we can all step in. You can trust us to live on. We're not gonna die any sooner than you."

I sighed, a wry smile crossing my face. "With the way I fight, that doesn't really make me feel much better."

"You know what I meant!" Lisbeth replied with a smile. "We won't die. I promise that, at the very least, I'll stay alive 'till the end of the game and beyond. You _did_ say you wanted to be friends with me in the real world, right?"

I started coughing wildly, a light pink staining my cheeks for the faintest of moments.

_She heard that?!_

"Yeah, I heard everything you said last night before falling asleep."

"I see. Well… yeah, I guess it'd be cool to meet up with everyone in the real world… after we clear the game, of course."

"Geez…"

"What?"

"Nothing…"

* * *

After dinner, we decided to go straight to bed.

"Should I be with you again tonight?" Lisbeth asked in a concerned tone.

"No, I'll be fine. Thanks anyway."

I turned around, walking towards my room.

"Night…" I heard Lisbeth say.

"Yeah…"

Once I got to my room, I immediately collapsed onto my bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

(The sixth day)

As we ate breakfast, I contemplated what to do for the day.

_This might be my last day as a solo player, so I'd better make it count. Leveling «Dual Wield» would be my first choice, but I don't want to put Lisbeth in any more danger. Making her fight so much has tired her out, I can tell. Still, she'd get pissed if she found out I was thinking that._

"So, what'll we do today?" Lisbeth queried in between bites of a bagel.

"Depends… what do you feel up to?"

"Say that again, I dare you."

I looked over to her, flinching at the look of anger on her face.

"All right, fine… what would you _want_ to do?" I rephrased my previous statement. "Other than leveling «Dual Wield», which would just get boring for you, I can't think of anything to do."

"Which reminds me, for whatever reason… can you only wield two swords at once? How exactly does it work?"

"Actually, I can use two of any kind of one-handed weapon at once, but they have to be the same kind," I informed her.

"So you can't wield a one-handed axe and a dagger, or that sort of thing?"

"No. The way «Dual Wield» works is like this. You know how whenever you equip a one-handed weapon, a second window opens up next to it where you can equip a sub-weapon like a shield or claw? Well, «Dual Wield» just allows you to fill that spot with another main weapon of the same type. Its «Skill Tree» changes when you change weapon types, too. Your mastery stays the same, though, which makes it really easy to learn different skills faster. Still, one-handed swords are the best for «Dual Wield», if only because of their high-hit combos."

"What's your best «Dual Wield» skill so far? In all categories, I mean."

"I'd like to say «Starburst Stream», because of its insanely high damage rate, but it's too slow to be of much use, and its damage would be total overkill on even most mini-bosses. No, my best so far is a one-handed curved sword skill called «Crescent Moon Cacophony», which has the ability to adapt by blocking and dodging mid-skill. It's only ten hits, though, and «Starburst Stream» is sixteen."

"That's so cool! I wouldn't have thought that «Dual Wield» would be so versatile."

"I know, I didn't think it would either… well, until I started to experiment with it. Anyway, maybe I should level it using curved swords today, see what skills I can pick up… what do you say, Liz?"

"Liz?"

"Yeah, _Liz_."

"Whatever. Where would you want to level your skill?" Lisbeth queried, annoyed at me for committing her pet peeve: I called her Liz.

"Well… I guess we could go to a dungeon… there's one more on this floor that I can think of, and you need to go there to unlock the boss room anyway," I said, donning a dark expression.

"What? Is it a really hard dungeon?"

"No, the dungeon itself isn't that hard. There isn't a single mob in it."

"Then what's with the creepy look?"

"It's just… well, you get to fight the floor boss at the end of the dungeon. You only fight him for a minute, but he's so powerful… you have to stay alive while fighting him for that minute, and if you do, he retreats to the floor boss room. He's so powerful… when my raid group fought him in the beta, he killed all of us but two, and he killed them all in one hit. The two that stayed alive were me and Kamiko, as she had joined up with the «Assault Team» a few weeks earlier, and I had been training her.

"The only reason we survived was because we were fast enough to dodge all its attacks. I survived because I leveled like crazy, and she survived because of her «Extra Skill», «Shadow Play», which ups her evasion speed by a fair amount. You want to know what the worst part is?"

"What?" she queried, a fearful expression on her face.

"You can't damage it. It has infinite HP until it gets to its room in the boss dungeon."

"Then…"

"Yeah. All you can do is dodge. You don't have the fastest movement speed, but you do have a skill that will come in handy here."

"What skill?" Lisbeth asked, looking doubtful.

"You have a skill that was used by the last floor boss, called «Numbing Impact». It'll stun him for ten seconds. The clock keeps running even when he's stunned, so we can just keep using skills that'll stun it until the timer runs out. I have a few «Stun» skills myself, and mine have almost no cooldown, so I can chain different «Stun» skills together while your cooldown for «Numbing Impact» wears off, then you use it while my cooldown wears off, and we keep doing that. You up to it?"

"Yeah!"

"Good! Let's go!"

* * *

(Three hours later)

As we stood before the dungeon known as «Maalevor's Prison», I looked to Lisbeth. She nodded, and we went in.

"What the… hell…?"

All I could see was a long hallway, instead of the maze that was there in the beta. At the end of the hallway, a giant set of double-doors loomed, just begging to be opened.

"What is it?" Lisbeth asked me, not liking the tone of my voice.

"Look up ahead. The only thing there is the room where the boss waits, but there used to be a maze here in the beta, and it was full of mobs. If it's gone, that can only mean one thing."

"What?"

"He's gotten stronger," I said, my own resolve fading at the thought. "You know what?"

"W-what?"

"I'm gonna wait until tomorrow to go in… with fast players. If he's even stronger, he might be able to kill both of us in one hit. One slip-up, and we'd both be dead. I don't want to take that chance."

She immediately took my hand and led me up to the door.

"What the hell are you doing, Liz?!"

"I'm not gonna chicken out!"

_What the hell happened to her?!_

She pushed the door open, trying to push me in with her.

I glared at her, pent up rage building up from within. Finally, it broke out. "Listen to me, Liz! I'm not gonna let you die here, you got that?!" I yelled, shaking her shoulders.

She flinched and backed away in shock, and I instantly regretted yelling at her. "Lisbeth, I'm sorry…"

I tried to put my arms around her, but she pushed me away… right into the boss room.

The doors started to close, and I saw Lisbeth start to run towards me… but the doors shut just before she entered.

_Well, this is it…_

I turned around, looking at the shadows.

_He should appear from the shadows in about five seconds, and then I'm in for the chase of my life._

Just as I thought, five seconds later, a dark form appeared from the shadows, directly in front of me.

The three-meter-tall boss's appearance was mostly concealed by a cloak, and it didn't have any legs. The claws that protruded from his cloak's sleeves were disproportionately large, and each finger of the claws looked as big as one of the one-handed swords I was using. There was no visible head under his cloak's hood, only glowing red eyes that peered into my soul, looking for the crippling feeling known as fear.

And that it found.

_Just like in the beta… I'm screwed…_

Four health bars appeared next to its head, and a name appeared in front of it.

«Boss: Maalevor the Purifier»

Just after I finished reading the boss's name, «Maalevor» appeared in front of me, slashing at me with his right claw. I just barely got out of the way in time, but when his claw hit the ground, a crater formed beneath it.

_Oh god!_

I ran from his claw strikes for the next fifteen seconds, and then I saw it…

He was charging a fireball.

My breath caught in my throat. _No! It wasn't like this in the beta… he didn't have his fireball power yet!_

After at least thirty seconds of dodging his relentless attacks, I realized something horrifying.

_It's been more than a minute, and he hasn't retreated yet!_

"That's enough! I'm sick of dodging!"

I ran at the boss, activating «End Revolver» after «End Revolver», using its split-second cooldown to keep stunning him over and over. It was then when I saw it.

_His health! It went down! That means…_

"I'll have to down his health by a certain amount before he retreats!"

I immediately ran at it again, stunning it with a «Blade Bash» before jumping and activating an «Inferno Raid» on its torso. When the skill ended, I chained it into an «End Revolver» and jumped back, stunning the boss just long enough for my cooldown to finish.

I immediately ran back in, delivering a «Blade Bash» to stun it yet again, followed by a…

The boss slashed at me with his claw and I avoided most of the attack, getting a small scratch on my left arm. I looked at my HP bar.

_Holy shit! That almost sent me into the yellow! I can't take any chances!_

I activated «Blade Bash», stunning him while I moved back to allow my «Battle Healing» to do its job.

While I healed, I eyed his health bars. _Well, the first one has dropped by about five percent. How much farther do I have to go? I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out!_

I smiled devilishly.

_Well, I'm sure as hell not going down yet! Not without one hell of a fight!_

"Let's go!"

After constant skill spamming on my part, he finally landed a direct hit… on my chest. I looked at my health bar, seeing it drop into the red, almost fully depleted.

_No! I won't die yet!_

Against my better judgment, I charged back in, delivering slash after slash.

_Left, right, diagonal down, up jab, dodge—_

I evaded a side-swipe, sliding under and past «Maalevor» and activating a «Sonic Leap» on its back. I kicked off its back to activate «Dance of Sura», but as soon as I looked down…

«Maalevor the Purifier» vanished into thin air, leaving me to fall to the ground.

When I got back up, albeit shakily, and looked at my health bar, I noticed that I was still in the red, with a mere _five_ HP tying me to the world of the living.

The door opened, and a distraught Lisbeth came running in.

"Kirito!"

"I… I'm fine…" I panted, trying to put up a strong front, before I realized that she could see my HP bar.

"No you're not! You're almost dead!"

"Well, I survived, right? And… and I'm gonna keep surviving. Till the end. I won't die… not to «Maalevor», not to _any_ boss… and not to this world."

I could hear her sniffling, and I felt the need to apologize, but I couldn't find the strength in me to talk anymore.

"You're an idiot… c'mon, let's go to your house. You can rest up there, and tomorrow…"

_That's right… tomorrow, I have to tell the gang all that happened. They won't be very happy that I took on all of this… but I have to own up._

She helped me get up, and we started to walk out of the dungeon.

* * *

After dinner, I found myself still unable to talk. I couldn't make a sound, no matter how hard I tried. I had notified Lisbeth of my problem via a PM, and she hadn't asked any questions.

_What happened…? Is this a glitch?_

When we decided to go to bed, I turned to Lisbeth, mouthing, 'G'night.'

She nodded and walked into the guest bedroom, and I walked into my own.

As soon as I lay down, I immediately fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

(The last day)

When I woke up, I went straight for the kitchen, where I found Lisbeth making breakfast. When she heard me approach her, she turned around and smiled, saying, "Today's the big day! Can you talk yet?"

I tried to speak, and found a shaky "Y-yes…" coming out of my mouth.

"That's good! Now, let's eat!"

When we sat at the table, our plates in front of us, only one word needed to be said.

"Itadakimasu!"

* * *

When we stood in front of the «Teleport Gate» in the main city, I began to grow nervous.

_What'll I do? I'm still… I'm still not sure. I want to accept, but… I'm afraid._

I heard the sound of several people teleporting in from the gate, and I looked up.

There they were.

"Yo, Kirito!" Cirdan yelled, walking up to me with a fist in the air.

I met it with my own, saying, "How've you guys been?"

Everyone began to tell me about their endeavors to complete the «Guild Creation» quest.

* * *

"It took you guys _four_ _days_ to beat it?" I restated, an incredulous expression on my face.

"Well _excuse us_ for not having the strongest player in the game on our team," Kamiko retorted.

"Break it up, break it up!" Cirdan shouted, coming in between us. "Anyway, who's that chick over there?"

I followed the direction in which he was pointing, and said, "Oh, she's my exclusive smith, Lisbeth."

"Hi!"

"_Exclusive smith_, you say…" Argo mused with a mischievous smirk.

_Great…_ "No, Argo. Just no."

"Damn, and here I thought I finally had some info to hold over your head."

"What do you mean?"

All heads in the area turned to Asuna. _How can she be… this innocent?_

After a few seconds of silence, I decided to be the first to speak. "So, you guys wanted to hear my decision?"

"Yeah!" everyone said in unison, save for Lisbeth, who gave me a knowing smile.

I suddenly felt a mountain of pressure fall on me, all thought processes coming to a halt as they all stared at me.

"I… I think… I'm in."

"YEAH!"

"I've got a few conditions, though."

Everyone except Lisbeth looked confused, so I elaborated. "One: Lisbeth needs to join the guild. She's very useful as a blacksmith and mace-user, and she's a good friend.

"Two: I need my space every once in a while, so no one stop me when I want to go solo."

At this, I got angry looks from Asuna and Kamiko, knowing smiles from Cirdan and Lisbeth, and a mischievous smirk from Argo.

"And finally: Asuna, Cirdan and Kamiko have to promise not to kill me for what I say next."

I could already feel an edgy aura coming from Kamiko, so I decided to speak before she could demand an answer.

"I passed all the requirements to fight the floor boss. Argo, Cirdan, and Kamiko, you know what this means, and Lisbeth, you were there. As for Asuna, I guess I should tell you what I had to do.

"I had… to fight the floor boss… alone. I'll be honest with everyone here… I almost died. In one direct hit, it drained my HP down to exactly five."

I heard everyone gasp in horror, save for Lisbeth.

"Yeah… but if the situation is even remotely close to what it was in the beta, then its attack power won't be as high when he's in the boss room."

I heard a collective sigh of relief.

"Well anyway, that's all. Are you guys still willing to have me, troubles and all?"

Cirdan gave me a smirk. "Man, you already know the answer to that one!"

"All right then… I'm in, and so is Liz."

* * *

Later that night, we all agreed to sleep at my house. The next morning we would create our future guild.

"So, there's two more things we have to do before we can create the guild," I said while we all ate dinner.

"What're those?"

"First, we have to choose a leader."

All eyes in the room fell onto me.

"All right, I get it," I sighed. "Next, we need to come up with a name."

"I have an idea!" Asuna said immediately after I finished talking.

"What is it?"

"Let's call our guild the «Luminous Swords»!"

* * *

**A/N:**

**Oh… my… god… that was so long!**

**I can guarantee you that you won't ever see another chapter this long in this story again. I'll save that kind of crazy stuff for The League of Blades.**

**So, what did you guys think? If you're wondering where I got the guild name, it's from the SAO soundtrack. There's an amazing song in volume one of the OST called, ****_Luminous Sword_****, and it's frequently used when Asuna is fighting, hence the reason why she was the one to come up with it.**

**Anyway, I tried to make it painfully clear that Kirito is ****_not_**** immortal with the premature boss fight. Do you think I succeeded?**

**I think that's about it! Only one thing left to say!**

**I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series or any of its adaptations!**

**See ya!**


	6. Maalevor

FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter Six: Maalevor

* * *

**A/N:**

**This is it. The third floor boss battle! I'm using a boss that a good friend on this site came up with, and I think this'll be one hell of a battle! (He's my personal idea man! He helps me out when I'm running dry on inspiration, and he was my plot-hole beta for the original ESR, which is what this boss was originally for.)**

**This'll probably be pretty long, (I stand corrected. It wasn't that long) but like I said, nothing in this story will top the last chapter. (Well… maybe. If I get the right flow, then I can pour out ideas onto my word processor like a waterfall!)**

**Anyway, I think you all know what has to happen before the newly-formed guild can fight the boss. They have to start the boss meeting first, and as usual, Kirito will be giving his info to the players, because that's just how he rolls now. :D**

**Well, I think that's all you guys need to know right now, so I'll see you at the bottom!**

* * *

_Later that night, we all agreed to sleep at my house. The next morning we would create our future guild._

_"So, there's two more things we have to do before we can create the guild," I said while we all ate dinner._

_"What're those?"_

_"First, we have to choose a leader."_

_All eyes in the room fell onto me._

_"All right, I get it," I sighed. "Next, we need to come up with a name."_

_"I have an idea!" Asuna said immediately after I finished talking._

_"What is it?"_

_"Let's call our guild the «Luminous Swords»!"_

* * *

"Switch!"

I backed off of the mob, allowing Asuna to jump in and finish it off with a «Linear». Meanwhile, Kamiko and Argo had just finished off three mobs of their own. Lisbeth and Cirdan could only watch as the entire field slowly became a desolate land, free of all mobs.

_I could've killed all of them in half the time if I was using «Dual Wield», but that's a rare treat now. It's kinda sad… my «Dual Wield» is at 624/1000, but I won't be able to get it any higher until after the boss fight. I really want to see how good «Variant Step» is._

We were en route to the main city, where the «Hall of Guild Creation» was located, so we could form our guild. We had decided to do some leveling on the way, since we were going to the scheduled boss meeting right after that.

Asuna panted lightly, saying, "Well, that should be good for now."

"All right, let's move on to the castle," I said with a small frown.

_They're a little under-leveled, but we can make up for that on the next floor… I guess._

"You want us to level more, don't you, Ki-bou?" Argo asked with a sly smile.

"Yeah, you got me. You're all a little under-leveled."

"By whose standards?" Cirdan queried.

"Mine. To put this in perspective, I'm level twenty-eight right now, and half of you aren't even level twenty. Argo, you're level nineteen; Cirdan, you're level eighteen; Asuna, you're level twenty-one; and Kamiko, you're level twenty-three. I've been leveling with Lisbeth for a while, so she's actually the highest leveled here other than me. She's level twenty-five. Ideally, we should all be at _least_ level twenty-five by the time of the boss fight."

"All right, we get it. So, do you have any ideas for places to level that are close to here?" Asuna asked me.

All of a sudden, Kamiko's, Cirdan's, and Argo's faces lit up, as did mine.

"«Radiance Plains»!"

When we arrived at «Radiance Plains», we were greeted with the sight of hundreds of «Crystal Gluttons».

The «Crystal Glutton» is a one-meter tall gray spider-like mob with bluish-white crystals on its back. It has no special attacks, but it has a very high damage output, as well as a chance to poison enemies with every strike.

"These mobs are anywhere from level fifteen to level seventeen, they have the fastest re-spawn rate on the entire floor, and they yield high EXP. Is everyone ready?" I asked my team.

"Yeah!"

An hour later, we had leveled everyone up to at least level twenty-five. I was the highest at level thirty-one, and Lisbeth was second at level twenty-seven.

"This field is impossible to clean, so let's go to the castle before we die trying," Cirdan said through panting breaths.

"Yeah, I think we're good," I agreed, starting to walk towards the main castle, «Polis».

* * *

When we arrived at the city, I saw the «Hall of Guild Creation» right away, as it's the biggest building in «Polis». As soon as I saw it, my fears from before I decided to be a part of the guild rose up with ten times the intensity.

_They level fast, but I train hard… I don't want to put them in any danger._

I felt a familiar hand grip mine.

"Don't worry. We'll survive," a feminine voice whispered in my ear.

_Lisbeth…_

And that was the final reassurance I needed.

"Let's go."

* * *

The «Hall of Guild Creation» seemed even bigger on the inside than it did on the outside.

As soon as I walked in, a peppy classical BGM bombarded my ears. I looked around, seeing murals on the walls depicting various warriors fighting monsters. At the other end of the building, a male NPC dressed as a preacher sat at an altar, completely alone.

_Looks like no one has figured out that you can make guilds with this person yet._

"That's the guy," Argo said, pointing towards him and beckoning us forward.

Once we stood in front of him, I stepped forward and said, "Father Lance, we come to request that you give our group your blessing so that we may become a guild."

Father Lance looked up, saying, "Very well. We shall start the ceremony right away."

He led us to a back room, where we found ourselves face-to-face with several powerful mobs known as «Baby Basilisks».

"Don't freak out, guys. This is just to test our teamwork," I explained, noting the shocked look on Lisbeth's and Asuna's faces.

"Well, if you can defeat them all, then you will be blessed. Good luck."

And with that, the NPC left us in the room and shut the door, locking it behind him.

Thirty minutes later, we exited the room, the door having unlocked after we defeated all of the mobs.

* * *

We found the NPC waiting for us outside, holding seven clear goblets on a platter, all of which were filled with a strange golden liquid.

_What…?_

We walked up to him, with me at the lead. He offered each of us one of the goblets, and then he said, "Splendid! You have proven yourselves worthy to form a guild! Now, all that's left is to choose a name and leader."

"I'll be the leader," I said with confidence. "And our name will be… the «Luminous Swords»!"

"Then drink! Drink and be one!" the NPC declared.

And we drank.

Once we were finished, a window popped up in front of me.

* * *

_Guild data collected_

_Name: «Luminous Swords»_

_Original members: Kirito, Argo, Asuna, Cirdan, Kamiko, Lisbeth_

_Do you wish to continue with this process?_

_Yes/No_

* * *

When I hit yes, a congratulation window popped up, and then…

Everyone around me burst into cheers, and even I cracked a small smile.

I looked to the bottom right corner of my vision, gasping at the time.

"Guys, we gotta get to the boss meeting!"

* * *

When we got to the meeting area, I saw everyone in the «Assault Team» waiting patiently.

"All right, I'm gonna skip the formalities and get right down to business," I said, my voice betraying no emotion.

"I've got the map data here, so if everyone here would send me a PM, I can send it in a reply."

I received PMs from everyone in the amphitheater of «Polis», and I sent the map data back with the reply all function.

"Now, I'll tell you about the boss. I'm not gonna lie when I say that I know most of the boss's patterns already. I had to fight it early for a little while to allow us to fight it up at the boss room."

I received gasps from everyone in the amphitheater.

"The boss's name is «Maalevor the Purifier», and it has four health bars. It doesn't have any weapons, but it does have gigantic claws that can use claw skills. It can make fireballs that damage the people in area around where they land unless they are blocked by a shield. If you block them with a shield, you won't take any damage, so if it's possible, use shields this battle. We'll need about twelve shield users, preferably in the same two parties. How many of you can use a shield efficiently?"

Exactly thirteen hands shot up, one of them Cirdan's.

"Good. Cirdan, you can lead the defending parties, and I'll lead the offense. Kamiko and Argo will lead the people here with speed builds in the forces that'll draw the boss's attention. Lisbeth can lead the heavy-hitters and have them use stunning skills in a chain, and Asuna can lead the reserve group, which jumps in whenever a party needs to heal.

"Any objections?"

Silence.

"Good!" I shouted. "We'll meet here and leave at ten in the morning! Meeting adjourned!"

When we stepped off the stage, I sighed in relief. "That was exhausting. I still need to get used to public speaking."

"You did fine," Lisbeth assured me. "As long as you only talk strategy, you're really good."

_So I'm bad if I talk about anything else?_

"Anyway, let's go back to Kirito's place and prepare," Cirdan suggested, though it sounded more like an order.

* * *

The next morning, we all met up at the amphitheater, made preparations, and left for the boss dungeon.

When we arrived at the entrance to the boss room, I stood side-by-side with my guild mates to address the «Assault Team».

"Well, you all know what I have to say here. Live!"

At this, I got many smiles.

We opened the door and walked in slowly, finding the room to be pitch black.

_Five… four… three…_

I drew my «Anneal Blade», steeling myself for the fight ahead.

Then… parts of the room lit up, while others remained in complete darkness. Out of a shadow at the back of the boss room, «Maalevor» appeared, his health bars filling up just like they did in the cave.

"Let's go!"

And we charged.

Immediately after we reached him, he started to charge up a claw skill, which I recognized to be a deadly skill known as «Insanity Claw».

"Get back!" Cirdan and I yelled simultaneously to the players in range.

They all narrowly avoided the skill. When it made contact with the ground, a crater formed, launching a few unlucky players into the air. He began to charge up another claw skill.

"No you don't!"

I used a «Rage Spike» to get close to him, then chained it into a «Sonic Leap», which sent me flying at his head. It eyed me while I flew towards him, and he tried to release its claw skill on me.

But I had been expecting that.

As soon as I saw the skill come into range, I used a «Battle Skill» called «Parry Strike». The shockwave created by the perfectly timed «Battle Skill» stunned him, allowing me to activate my best one-handed skill.

«Phantom Rave»

_Diagonal up, diagonal up, right, left, down, DOWN!_

That last slash drove me through the middle of the boss, all the way to the ground, where I hit him with a «Blade Bash» to stun it and prevent my skill's cooldown.

I jumped back, allowing the offense to charge in and attack him from the front, while the heavy-hitter party kept him stunned by chaining «Numbing Impact».

_Everything's going great! Wait… things are going _way_ too smoothly! Something's wrong! It's like «Maalevor» isn't trying to fight hard! Normally, he would open up with a fireball, but he hasn't even tried to make one yet!_

I looked over to the boss once more.

_Shit!_

During the three seconds that my mind had been racing, «Maalevor» had used a claw skill to knock all his assailants back and started charging a fireball… aimed right for me.

_«Parry Strike» can't block nonphysical attacks!_

I leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the fireball, running at the boss and hitting him with a «Blade Bash» to get it to the ground, followed by several low-level skills, combined with normal slashes.

_Left, right, «Slant», «Uppercut», down, «Horizontal 360», thrust—_

In the middle of my thrust, «Maalevor» vanished into thin air.

_What?!_

Then, out of the shadow behind me, he reappeared and slashed me in the back with his claw, sending me flying into a wall.

"AAAGH!"

Rage flaring, I kicked off the wall and flew towards the boss, hitting him with a «Sonic Driver» to the head.

_THRUST!_

«Maalevor» flew backwards into a shadow, and then I heard the sound of a claw slashing from the shadow behind me. I jumped up just in time to evade the attack, and when I turned around in midair, I saw his other claw coming towards me. Just in time, I activated «Parry Strike» to stun him and allow me to attack.

_Left, diagonal up, down, «Uppercut», down, «Horizontal», spin, thrust—_

Just like before, he vanished into thin air, but this time I my eyes were quick enough to see him fly into a shadow right before he disappeared.

_So that's how he does it!_

I quickly counted the number of shadows in the room.

_Wow… only six shadows? Still, they're all really big. Wait!_

"Guys! Change in plans! He falls into the shadows every five minutes, so if all the shadows are blocked, then he might get weaker! When he comes back out, I want everyone to guard one of the shadowy areas in the room! Five people to a shadow! And try your best to get a variety of builds in your group! The rest of us will attack it while it gets stuck out in the light!" I shouted.

When it came out of the shadow directly behind me, I turned around and «Parry Struck» its claw attack, stunning it and giving everyone time to get into position.

It appeared that the only one from my guild who was in the new attack group was Asuna.

_Fine by me! We can work together seamlessly!_

We charged.

"Asuna!"

We locked eyes for only a moment, and we instantly formed a plan together.

I turned my head back to the boss, finding it just floating in the center of the room, its claws beginning to glow with an orange-red.

_That's a fire-element spinning skill! Will «Parry Strike» even work?_

I looked at «Maalevor» with determination.

_Might as well try!_

When we reached the boss, his skill had just been set into motion. When I tried to use «Parry Strike», it worked… on both of us.

I flew back, the «Burning» condition inflicted, and «Maalevor» just floated there, paralyzed from the counterattack.

"Kirito-kun! Are you—"

"Asuna! Go! Before the «Stun» wears off!"

"R-right!"

When she ran at him, I could only watch in amazement as she expertly started to bombard the boss with all kinds of rapier skills.

_She's just as good with a rapier as I am with «Dual Wield»!_

I eyed the boss's health bars, finding that only one had been depleted so far, and the second bar was still almost full.

_This is turning out to be harder than expected…_

When the «Burning» condition stopped, I got back up on my feet and charged back in.

"Asuna! I'll take it on in the front while you and the rest of the new attack group hit it from behind!"

"Got it!"

"Switch!"

She backed off, and I ran at the boss, activating «Blade Bash» to stun it long enough for everyone else to get into position.

"HAAAAA!"

_Left, right, spin, «Vertical», flip-spin, dodge, «Parry Strike» —_

«Maalevor» staggered back, stunned yet again, and the other players assaulted it while I jumped back to rest.

I eyed «Maalevor's» health bars once more, seeing that the second bar had been depleted to the halfway mark.

_We're making progress now! Wait… it's almost time for him to try to retreat to the shadows!_

"Everyone who's guarding a shadow, get ready! He's about to try to retreat!"

Everyone started to prepare, and then…

«Maalevor» ran towards the shadow that Lisbeth was guarding.

_No… NO!_

My vision gained a red tint, and I could feel myself losing control to my primal fury. Soon, my entire field of vision… and consciousness… were overtaken by a bloody red color.

Then, when my vision came back, my «Anneal Blade» was in the process of activating my best one-strike skill on «Maalevor». Upon closer inspection, he had only one health bar left, and even that one was halfway gone.

_What the hell happened?!_

When the skill finished and «Maalevor» flew back, I took the chance to look around at my surroundings.

All around me, the other players stood in awe, all of them completely still. No one had the slightest of injuries.

_Whew… it looks like nothing bad happened while whatever happened… happened._

"Look out!"

_Lisbeth?!_

I turned around just in time to see a giant claw come slashing down in my direction. Right before it hit me, I used another «Parry Strike», the shockwave sending «Maalevor» reeling.

I ran at it, crying a battle cry.

"AAAAAAAH!"

«Phantom Rave»

_Diagonal up, diagonal up, right, left, down, DOWN!_

I jumped back to avoid a claw strike, then came back in with an onslaught of overwhelmingly fast attacks.

_Left, right, spin, diagonal up, down, thrust, «Uppercut», dodge, «Parry Strike»—_

While it was stunned, I yelled out, "Asuna! Kamiko! Argo! Get over here and help me!"

"Right!" the three yelled in unison.

We charged «Maalevor» all at once, with me at the lead. "All right! Asuna and I will attack, while Kamiko uses «Blade Bash» to stun it, and Argo keeps its attention! Sound good?"

"Yeah!"

Argo ran in first, slashing him with her right claw while the rest of us ran around it. Just before it would have finished charging a fireball to lob at Argo, Kamiko stunned it with «Blade Bash» from behind. Asuna and I then proceeded to attack with a new method we found: «Team Skill».

«Team Skill: Dance of Lightning»

The skill started out with Asuna running around «Maalevor» and thrusting her white-glowing rapier at him, hitting him towards me with extreme force. The skill continued with me using my «Anneal Blade» in what looked to be a black-glowing «Vertical 360» that sent him right back to Asuna, as well as sending me flying over it, so Asuna and I were left standing.

We both hit him together in a cleaving motion, our swords still glowing black and white. Then, Asuna ran forward and sent several incredibly fast thrusts at «Maalevor» while I ran in and prepared to hit him with the final part of the «Team Skill».

I jumped into the air above «Maalevor», thrusting my sword into his head and dragging it downward until it went all the way through his body.

When I hit the ground, the final hit of the skill initiated.

"HAAAAAAAH!"

I pulled my «Anneal Blade» back, then jabbed with all my power, straight up at his head.

A black spear of energy shot out of my sword, piercing through the boss's head and depleting its HP until…

«Maalevor the Purifier» shattered into innumerable polygons, confirming our victory.

Everyone gathered around Asuna and me, all cheering our names loudly.

"Hah… hah… hah…" all I could do was pant.

I saw the all-too-familiar window pop up, telling me I got the LA bonus.

* * *

_Bonus item: «Moonlit Gloves»_

* * *

Everything went black.

When I awoke, I found myself still in the boss room, all of the «Assault Team» looking down at me worriedly.

"Ouch… how long was I out?" I muttered.

"About ten seconds," Cirdan calculated. "Well, I think we should get going. We need to activate the «Teleport Gate». Everyone else, you can go and rest until we activate it. You all need it."

Asuna helped me up, and my guild mates and I left the boss room.

* * *

Once we were a good distance from the door to the fourth floor, Cirdan stopped walking and said, "Kirito, we need to talk."

_I wonder what he wants to talk about…_

"What the hell happened to you back there?!"

"Huh?"

"When the boss started to head for the shadow Lisbeth was at, you went freaking _berserk_! You ran towards him, activating skill after skill until he was down to the last HP bar, and even the few times that he actually hit you, you just kept going! And your _eyes_… we locked eyes once, and all I saw was the look of a furious beast. Then, when you were in the middle of activating the strongest one-hit skill so far in the game, it's like you snapped out of a trance! Something happened, and I want to know just what it was!"

I looked to the ground, my expression hidden by my bangs. "I… I don't know what happened. I just remember my vision turning a bloody red, and then the next thing I knew, I was activating the skill you were talking about."

Cirdan sighed. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. We'll figure out what it is later. Now, we just need to activate the «Teleport Gate» and get the house on this floor."

I smiled softly. "Yeah…"

And we moved on.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sorry for the delay! I'm totally burnt out.**

**If I haven't made it obvious enough, I'm thinking about making this an Asuna/Kirito/Lisbeth fic, maybe even a harem… still debating on doing anything new with the pairings, though, so nothing's concrete… yet. I could still sway either way.**

**Well, I guess that's all I have to say for now. If you have questions, PM me and I'll do my best to answer them. Not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, but hopefully sooner than later.**

**Now, it's time for that loathsome line that every SAO Fanfiction writer wishes they didn't have to say!**

**I don't own Sword Art Online or any of its adaptations!**

**See ya!**


	7. The Race Begins

FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter Seven: The Race Begins

* * *

**A/N:**

**I know the summary said that I'm on hiatus due to NaNoWriMo, but inspiration hit me, and here we are! I literally typed this up in less than a collective six hours!**

**Okay, the title of this chapter is more symbolic that it is literal. You'll understand that later on in the chapter, when the— whoops! Almost spoiled you!**

**Also, you guys won me over. This story will NOT be a harem, but I'm still contemplating making it Asuna/Kirito/Lisbeth or Asuna/Kirito/Sachi.**

**Also, there's going to be a bit of a time-skip here, but there's a reason for that. Hopefully you guys can forgive me for that.**

**Well, I think that's about it! See ya at the bottom!**

* * *

_Once we were a good distance from the door to the fourth floor, Cirdan stopped walking and said, "Kirito, we need to talk."_

_I wonder what he wants to talk about…_

_"What the hell happened to you back there?!"_

_"Huh?"_

_"When the boss started to head for the shadow Lisbeth was at, you went freaking berserk! You ran towards him, activating skill after skill until he was down to the last HP bar, and even the few times that he actually hit you, you just kept going! And your eyes… we locked eyes once, and all I saw was the look of a furious beast. Then, when you were in the middle of activating the strongest one-hit skill so far in the game, it's like you snapped out of a trance! Something happened, and I want to know just what it was!"_

_I looked to the ground, my expression hidden by my bangs. "I… I don't know what happened. I just remember my vision turning a bloody red, and then the next thing I knew, I was activating the skill you were talking about."_

_Cirdan sighed. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. We'll figure out what it is later. Now, we just need to activate the «Teleport Gate» and get the house on this floor."_

_I smiled softly. "Yeah…"_

_And we moved on._

* * *

As I walked through the «Forest of Nightfall», dressed in a cloak to hide my identity, I looked around for any mobs to slay.

I found none.

_Strange… this place used to be full of mobs in the beta… I wonder what happened. Maybe a bunch of players went through here a few hours ago and cleared the place out._

It was then that I heard a scream that resounded so loudly that it might have damaged my ears in the real world.

I unequipped my second sword, running in the direction of the scream.

_Damn it! Why would someone be in a dangerous forest at night? The monsters are twice as strong!_

When I arrived at the scene, I saw two players surrounded by seven of the second strongest mobs on the fourth floor, «Crimson Fox Princes».

"Duck!" I shouted at the players. They did as told, and I activated a new skill I had been dying to try out.

«Wind Cutter»

I made a powerful slash in the direction of the mobs, shattering their bodies in one hit.

I walked over to the players. "Are you two okay?"

Upon closer inspection, I noted that one of them, the female, had midnight blue hair, a medium-sized bust, midnight-blue leather armor, and a spear that looked like it had seen better days…

_So familiar…_

And the other player, the male, had medium-length blond hair with a winter cap covering the top, a small frame, and a cloak similar to mine for concealing whatever weapon he used.

"NOW we're okay! Thanks a million!" the blond said. "We would've been monster meat without you! My name's Ducker, by the way."

"No, it's no problem. Nice to meet you, Ducker," I said, my cloak hiding a frown of disapproval. "You shouldn't be out here at night with only one other person, though. The mobs here are known for their ability, «Swarm»."

"Oh, we were with three others, but we got separated about half an hour ago. Wait, wouldn't going solo be even more dangerous than having only two people?" Ducker replied.

"Well, I grind a lot, so I'm a couple of levels higher than most players. Plus, I only target one enemy at a time, so I have a lower chance of getting killed. There aren't many mobs without the «Swarm» ability in this forest, but everything gets you high EXP. It's worth it."

_A total lie. I'm almost double the level of the average player at this point, and I only target large groups of mobs, just because of the high EXP turnout._

"Ah, I see," Ducker responded as if he was getting advice from a veteran.

_Well, I guess he kinda is._

"By the way," said Ducker, "this girl over here is named Sachi. She's kinda shy, so she doesn't really talk to people she doesn't know. Sorry about that. Anyway, what's your name?"

"Don't worry about it, I used to be the same way. My name is…"

_Should I tell them who I am? They might freak out, so I'd better not._

"My name is Black."

Of course, I was making a small reference to my nickname, the «Black Sword». Ever since people found out about our guild on the fourth floor, they gave us nicknames based on the color of clothing we wore.

"Cool!" Ducker said, a wide grin on his face.

"Well, do you want me to help you find the rest of your party?"

"Yes, thank you!" Sachi exclaimed, talking for the first time since I met her.

_Her voice… it's so cute… and kind of familiar… but I know I haven't met her before. Weird._

Deciding to put my thoughts away for the moment, I said, "All right, let's go."

* * *

Walking through the forest with my new friends, I found myself thinking about my guild.

_Ever since people found out about our guild on the fourth floor, they started calling us the strongest players in the game. I don't know how they made that connection, but they did. Now, whenever I go solo for a little while, the people I meet shy away, as if I'm unapproachable or something. That's why I got this cloak to put on top of my «Coat of Midnight», but then… I feel like I'm lying to everyone I meet like this._

"What'cha thinking about?" Ducker queried.

"Nothing… just about lies."

"What do you mean?" Ducker asked me, his voice starting to shake. "Don't tell me you're a PKer!"

"What?! God, no!" I shouted.

"Sorry… " Ducker apologized. "It's just that when you say something like that, and you have a cloak that hides your face…"

"No, I understand where you're coming from. My second friend in this world wore a cloak when I first met her. I thought it was kinda weird, too. Maybe a little scary, because of her skill, but… well…"

"Well…?"

"… She's one of my dearest friends now," I finished.

"Cool!"

"Well, I think we should keep searching," I said. "It's still night, and the mobs are stronger. Wait a second…"

"What is it?" Sachi asked me.

"We could just use our «Tracing Skill»!"

I activated said skill, and I immediately saw footsteps leading northwest from where we stood.

_It looks like they were running from something!_

"C'mon, guys! Something's wrong!" I said, sprinting forward. They followed, and I tried to stay just slow enough to keep pace with them.

When I reached the players whose footsteps I had been tracing, I found a truly terrifying sight.

Three players, all with almost fully depleted HP bars, were cornered by the second strongest mini-boss on the fourth floor, the «Crimson Fox King».

The «Crimson Fox King» stood on two legs, and all its limbs had giant muscles. Its fur looked like it had been stained with blood. Giant claws protruded from its hands, each claw as long as my «Anneal Blade».

Suddenly, images flowed into my head—images of each of the players around me dying, including Ducker and Sachi.

_No… NO!_

I sprang into action, sprinting as fast as I could.

"RAAAAAAAH!"

When I reached the mini-boss, I hit it with a «Blade Bash», stunning it and allowing me to activate a new skill I learned.

«Howling Octave»

_Thrust, thrust, thrust, thrust, thrust, down, up, UP!_

Remembering the long cooldown just in time, I chained it into another «Blade Bash», allowing me to activate yet another powerful skill… my signature skill.

«Lunar Wing Beat»

_Left, right, diagonal up, diagonal down, flip-spin, thrust, thrust, up, down, THRUST!_

The last thrust had a knockback effect, pushing the «Crimson Fox King» back into a tree.

"KURAAAAAH!"

Once the cooldown ended, I charged at it again, delivering a series of attacks that were too swift to follow.

_Left, right, up, down, «Parry Strike», left, diagonal up, diagonal spin—_

I dodged a downward strike from its left claw, jumping onto its arm and running up it until I reached its shoulders, stabbing my «Anneal Blade» through its head. It shook around violently, trying desperately to get my sword dislodged from its head, until…

The «Crimson Fox King» shattered into countless polygons, signifying my victory, as well as showing a level-up sign…

With my name on it.

"What the…?" Ducker said, undoubtedly looking at my name on the level-up window.

Ignoring his question, I walked over to the other players, saying, "Are you three all right?"

"Y-yeah, we're fine," one of them said. He looked at me with a smile. "My name's Keita. I see you found Sachi and Ducker. Thanks for that!"

"No prob. Well, I'd better get going," I said, turning around to leave.

"Wait!" Ducker exclaimed.

"You're the «Black Sword», right?" Sachi asked, shocked.

"Uh, yeah… just call me Kirito, though."

"So you're the leader of the clearing group?" Keita asked, looking at me with an unreadable expression.

"Unofficially, yeah. We haven't really established a leader, but my guild runs the boss meetings… and I'm the one who maps out the boss dungeons."

"You mean you do it _by yourself_?" Ducker said incredulously.

"Most of the time. Anyway, I gotta go grind."

"Wait! At least let us treat you to dinner for saving us!" Keita offered.

I weighed my options, eventually deciding to give in.

"All right, where to?"

* * *

After we ordered our food at the diner, we started to talk about random things before Ducker said, "Y'know, Kirito… you're the reason we left the «Starting City»."

I coughed, my drink spraying slightly. "W-what do you mean?"

"You inspired us. We wanted to get to your level, to see what the front lines were like," Keita continued. "But now that I've seen your strength, I know that we might never have what it takes to get to the front lines."

"Trust me, the front lines aren't all they're cracked up to be. The front lines are dangerous, and you never stay on one floor for more than two weeks. The fourth floor only took four days," I told them. "But still, you can make it if you have the courage to fight."

All were silent. Then, Keita broke the silence with, "Well, when you put it that way, I think it's possible! Does everyone here want to make it up to the front lines?"

Everyone gave their own sign of confirmation aside from Sachi, who just looked down, a scared expression on her face.

_She looks bad. I think she'll kill herself if they force her._

"Well, I guess… if you want…" I started.

"What?" Ducker asked, looking at me with a curious expression.

"I could stay back here and help you guys out. I can give you a few tips and help you guys train in different builds. No offense, but your current team setup is really unstable."

A tall, brown-haired teen, who had earlier introduced himself as Tetsuo, said, "That's what Keita keeps telling us! He says that just having me as a forward isn't enough. I told him I can handle it, but…" he trailed off.

"That's the thing, though. You _can't_. There's no way a party with only one person out front can function," I said.

"Let's see… Ducker, you have a dagger build, right?" I asked the blond in question.

"Uh, yeah!"

"There's a quest on an earlier floor, the one that allowed Kamiko the «Emerald Edge» to use a claw with her dagger."

"What's the quest?"

I smiled. "Well, it's called the «Shadow Game» quest. You have to dodge or block fifteen consecutive attacks in complete darkness from the quest NPC. The thing is, you can only use a dagger or claw. No other weapon will allow him to give you the quest. Oh, and if you activate a skill that allows you to see in the dark, then you fail the quest. The lucky part about the quest is that you can take it an infinite amount of times.

"If you're up to it, I can tell you the attack pattern the NPC has. Kamiko told me about it one time."

"All right, I'll do it!"

"Okay, that takes care of that. Now we have another problem."

"What's that?" Keita queried.

"Both Sachi and Sasamaru use spears, right? Well, we need to have everyone a little different. Sachi seems to be a bit scared of being forward, so I suggest we switch Sasamaru to another build… how high is your STR stat, Sasamaru?"

"Pretty high, but my VIT stat is a little higher," he said sheepishly.

"Perfect. We'll set you up with a one-handed axe and shield build. Think you can handle it?" I asked.

He looked at the ground for a moment, contemplation evident on his features. When he looked up, I saw a smile on his face. "Sure!"

"All right, last thing on the list. Keita," I said, looking at him.

"Yeah?"

"What build are you? I didn't even see a weapon on you when you were under attack," I said, slightly annoyed that the apparent leader of the group didn't seem to fight alongside them.

"Oh, I used to use a curved sword, but its durability ran out a while back. We don't really have much money, so we couldn't afford to get any new weapons," Keita said sheepishly.

"Well, you need to be more careful, then. If you just flail your weapon about without any control, you're bound to break it a lot sooner than if you stick to even the most basic skills."

I pulled up a trade window, sending some mid-level armor for all of them.

_It's still better than what they have now. Have they got _any_ new armor since they got in the game?_

"Sorry I couldn't give you guys better armor, but I just did an inventory cleaning. Anyway, who needs a new weapon?" I said, noting the shocked expressions on their faces.

Everyone's hands shot up instantly.

I sighed. "Well, I guess giving my drops away is better than selling them."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, we had decided to spend the night at an inn. We had divided into three people per room, to save money. And of course…

I was grouped with Sachi and Ducker.

_"Since you already know them pretty well, I think it'd be best if you stayed with them for the night," Keita said, the night's events catching up with him._

"I know it's true, but…" I mumbled.

_Ducker is a little overenthusiastic. Sachi's cool, though._

"What's true?" Ducker asked me, coming to sit beside me.

"It's nothing. Anyway, I have to PM my guild-mates to tell them I'll be leaving the front lines for a bit to train you guys."

"Oh, all right."

I began to type out a message to Argo, knowing that she would get the info out to the rest of the guild.

_To: Argo_

_"Kirito here. I'm going to be training a group of people for the front lines. I might not be back up to the fifth floor for more than a week. Please tell the rest of the guild mates so that you guys can map out the dungeon together._

_—Kirito"_

I closed out my menu, yawning loudly. "Well, I'm gonna get up early, whether you guys do or not, so I have to sleep. Night."

"Night!" Ducker said, laying down on the floor.

Ducker had let me take the bed, but since Sachi had apparently gotten paranoid because of the night's events, I had allowed her to take the bed in my place.

_I don't know why they wanted me to have the bed anyway… well, at least I can get some rest now. You can't be uncomfortable in «Aincrad» when you're asleep._

Just as I started to nod off, I heard a shifting sound come from the bed, and I felt a light poke on my shoulder.

"Kirito?"

I groaned softly, then gently whispered, "What is it, Sachi?"

"I… I can't sleep. Could you… could you lie down with me, at least until I fall asleep?" Sachi whispered in a timid voice.

Trying to be as gentle as I could, I whispered, "Couldn't you have asked Ducker? I mean, you've known him a long time, right?"

"I could have, but… you're really strong… I'd feel safer with you."

Sighing in resignation, I got up quietly. "All right, but only for tonight."

"All right. Thanks."

When we got settled, I immediately fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

_I soon found myself in a black void, with nothing but darkness as far as I could see._

_"Where am I? This place seems oddly… familiar."_

_"Oh, you're awake!"_

_I turned around to face whoever it was, finding a white humanoid frame, with thousands of letters and numbers flashing through its insides. In an instant, I knew what… or who… it was._

_"You're the «Cardinal System», right? The letters and numbers inside your form… only the «Cardinal System» would have such a complex code."_

_"You're smarter than you look. Then again, you _did_ hack me several times, although I'm embarrassed to admit it."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_Somehow, I just knew that it was smiling, even without a mouth to define it._

_"Well, you wouldn't remember it anyway. What I came to tell you has nothing to do with that."_

_"Then what do you want to tell me?" I asked, an edge in my voice._

_"I came to tell you about the one flaw within me. I have a flaw in my power supply that makes me slowly deteriorate until I fully shut down, which will happen again… less than two years from now."_

_"What will happen to the players if the game isn't cleared by then?" I queried, the edge in my voice replaced by a quiver of fear._

_"You will all be deleted."_

_My blood turned to ice. "W… what?"_

_"You are playing this game for the seventh time since it launched… because of this flaw."_

_Suddenly, my own voice resounded through my head._

* * *

"So let me get this straight. A mere _system meltdown_ caused _time itself_ to rewind?!"

* * *

_"It looks like you've remembered something important!" the «Cardinal System» said, snapping me out of my thoughts._

_"Yes, I've used the remains of my power several times, just to give you all a second, and then third, and then fourth, and then fifth, and then sixth, and then… seventh… chance._

_"As you could imagine, I'm growing tired of this. I've decided that I'll only do it one more time, and that's it. That's why that woman decided to give you your nifty skills a little earlier than normal, because she didn't want to push me over the edge."_

_"Are you going to take them away?"_

_"No. That wouldn't be fair of me, would it? You've already gotten so far in your training, it would be a waste to take your gifts away now. No, I've come up with a different approach."_

_"A different approach?"_

_"I'll give you one more edge, another gift for use in combat. In turn, you have to clear this game before November seventh of the year two-thousand twenty-four. That's my projected day of 'death'."_

_I knew I had no choice, so I said, "You're on. So, what's my new edge?"_

_"Good. You know, it's kind of funny, though. You're always the one standing before the final boss. You, and you alone."_

_"Wait, what about the—"_

_"You'll find it soon enough. Now, goodbye, Kirito. I wish you the best of luck."_

* * *

When I woke up, I remembered everything from the dream, much to my disbelief.

I got up and went through my inventory, looking for anything unusual.

_I don't see anything different. Maybe it's a skill._

When I looked at my list of skills, I still noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

_«Cardinal» said it would be of use in combat, so it couldn't be a non-combat skill like cooking or fishing. I don't see any new attack skills, and my buffs are unchanged as well. That means there's only one place left to check… my «Passive Skill» list._

When I opened my «Passive Skill» list, the first thing that popped up on my screen was…

«SECRET SKILL: INFINITY MOMENT»

After I finished checking the skill description, I smiled to myself.

_Things are gonna go a lot faster from now on._

* * *

**A/N:**

**What did I tell you? The chapter title was symbolic. So, what do you think will happen? Will they clear the game in time? Will they all be deleted trying? You'll just have to wait to find out!**

**Anyway, I introduced Sachi and the Black Cats early, didn't I? What kind of impact will this have on the story? Some of you have probably already guessed, and who knows if you're right? :P**

**Lastly, I bet some of you are wondering what this secret skill does, eh? Well, you'll see in the next chapter.**

**All right, I think that's about it!**

**I don't own the SAO light novel series or any of its adaptations!**

**See ya!**


End file.
